Councillors reject fluoride

Test Valley Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has voted to oppose addition of fluoride to the borough’s water supply.

Over the past month the committee has considered submissions from the strategic health authority, local dentists, supporters and opponents of the proposals. This included a special meeting devoted to receiving evidence from both sides of the argument

The committee’s recommendation is as follows

“Having weighed up the evidence presented, this Committee remains unconvinced of the health benefits of fluoridation of public drinking water and therefore recommends to full council that it does not endorse additional fluoridation of the borough’s water supply until such time as evidence of the positive health benefits is produced. The Committee is in favour of using the resources in a more targeted way to improve the dental health of those who would benefit most.”

The recommendation will be considered by the full council at its meeting on November 13th.

As a member of the committee I support of the recommendation. The committee has considered the proposals in detail and found the arguments on both sides to be inconclusive. Low levels of fluoride may have been shown to improve dental health, but there is no clear evidence that addition of fluoride to drinking water is effective or necessary. It is, therefore, inappropriate for us to support addition of fluoride to local water supplies. The resources should be diverted to more cost effective health care initiatives.

One thought on “Councillors reject fluoride

  1. Len Gates says:

    After an hour long debate the council approved this resolution by 26 votes to 10.

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