Flouride is solution to Scotland’s ‘worst in Europe’ dental decay
Senior public health academic has called for a public consultation.
A senior public health academic has called for Labour leader Anas Sarwar to take forward plans to add fluoride to Scotland’s drinking water should his party win the 2026 Holyrood election, reports The Scotsman.
David Conway, professor of dental public health at the University of Glasgow, taught the Scottish Labour leader when he was a student at the university’s dental school.
Now Professor Conway has called for a public consultation on water fluoridation to help improve Scotland’s rates of dental decay, which are one of the worst in Europe. The last meaningful consultation on the issue took place in the early 2000s.
It should really be a settled issue by now.
Professor David Conway
Professor Conway said: “It should really be a settled issue by now. The evidence of the benefits and lack of evidence of the harms of fluoridation of water to recommended levels is clear.
“To take this forward in Scotland I think we need public consultation – but a more in-depth conversation with public and community engagement on the issues – and trying to ensure it is not hijacked by the vocal minority against.”
He added: “Also full assessment of the logistics and feasibility, including financial costs and benefits, of fluoridation of the public drinking water supply would be helpful to fully inform this discussion.”
The issue has become a hot topic after Robert F Kennedy Jnr, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for head of the American Department for Health and Human Services, said he would act to remove fluoride from US tap water.
Water fluoridation is backed by the British Dental Association, the Scottish Health Boards’ Consultants in Dental Public Health and the chief medical officer in the Scottish Government. Around six million people in England live in areas with water fluoridation, mainly in the West Midlands and the north-east where schemes have been running for more than 50 years.
A series of reviews1 has found that water fluoridation appears to contribute to reduced tooth decay levels and does not seem to be associated with any significant health risks.
1An evaluation of water fluoridation scheme in Cumbria – in 2021 / Royal Society of New Zealand: Health effects of water fluoridation – in 2014 / Cochrane Oral Health Group: Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries – in 2010