BOH Agenda 032520 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Expert Evaluation by Gary D. Slade, BDSc, No DPH, PhD 1.1 Synopsis • There is more than a century of scientific evidence supporting addition of fluoride to drinking water, toothpaste and other dental health products in order to prevent dental decay. • Nowadays, as new evidence is gathered, it is re-evaluated periodically using systematic reviews and meta-analysis. • These represent the most rigorous methods to assess scientific evidence concerning human health and healthcare. • Consistently, those systematic reviews endorse water fluoridation as a safe and effective method to prevent dental decay in the U.S. population. 2.2 Plain language response Observational epidemiologic studies of children covering more than half a century provide compelling and consistent evidence that fluoride in drinking water is associated with substantial benefits in preventing dental caries. The benefits are seen in the primary and permanent dentitions, with the magnitude of relative benefit being greater in the former. Statistical analytic methods used in recent decades account for other sources of fluoride—such as toothpaste—and other factors that influence dental caries in populations such as race, ethnicity, parental income and education. Those studies also demonstrate a caries-preventive benefit of water fluoridation even in populations where virtually all children use fluoridated toothpaste. The most recent U.S. evidence, reported in 2018, is from a study of a nationally-representative sample of children and adolescents that found a substantial preventive benefit, both in the permanent and primary teeth. Notably, benefits were more pronounced for children in low-income families than in high-income families. Similar studies of adults likewise show that water fluoridation is associated with reduced extent of dental caries. 48