[Missing Credit]No Caption Provided A new interactive online tool shows Dunedin, Invercargill, South Otago and North Otago are among the few places in the South Island that have fluoridated water. The new New Zealand Fluoridation Dashboard allows Kiwis to check whether their drinking water supply is fluoridated, and coincides with new research which confirms that communities with fluoridated water are associated with lower rates of tooth decay in children. A Public Health Communication Centre Briefing from the University of Otago said reports on an analysis of oral health screening data from more than 630,000 New Zealand preschool-aged children, found significantly higher rates of tooth decay among children living in non-fluoridated areas. Lead author and University of Canterbury environmental health and infectious diseases researcher Associate Prof Tim Chambers said the findings provided contemporary evidence that community water fluoridation remained an effective public health intervention, even with the widespread use of fluoride toothpaste and improvements in dental care. “After accounting for ethnicity, deprivation, age, sex, rurality and year of assessment, children living in non-fluoridated areas experienced significantly higher rates of tooth decay than children living in fluoridated areas.” The findings highlighted the importance of ensuring equitable access to fluoridated drinking water and maintaining fluoridation systems at recommended fluoride levels, he said. “The study also found substantial inequities in oral health, with Māori and Pacific children experiencing considerably higher rates of tooth decay than European children, regardless of fluoridation status. “While fluoridation was protective overall, the magnitude of benefit varied between ethnic groups, highlighting the need for broader strategies to address oral health inequities.” Dr Chambers said until now, it had not been easy for people to find out whether their drinking water was fluoridated, or whether fluoride levels had been consistently maintained. “This dashboard that we have recently launched, changes that by bringing together information from public water supplies across New Zealand in one place. “The dashboard provides unprecedented transparency regarding fluoridation implementation and performance across New Zealand. “It gives communities easy access to information about their local drinking water supply and increases transparency around fluoridation. “It also provides an accountability mechanism that enables communities, regulators and researchers to see how effectively fluoridation programmes are being implemented,” he said. john.lewis@odt.co.nz
