HC Deb 17 December 1962 vol 669 cc871-3
13. Mr. Lubbock

asked the Minister of Health by how much he estimates that the annual cost of dental treatment under the National Health Service would be reduced, if one part per million of fluoride were added to all drinking water.

Mr. Braine

I regret it is not possible to make an estimate.

Mr. Lubbock

Would not the incidence of dental decay be reduced by more than 50 per cent. if one part per million of fluoride were added to drinking water? Would it not be a good idea if the addition of fluoride were stimulated by the Ministry of Health making a contribution towards meeting the costs which local authorities will incur as a result of adding fluoride to drinking water?

Mr. Braine

The answer to the second supplementary question is that we do. As the hon. Member has said, fluoridation is expected to reduce the incidence of dental decay among children by half, and the increase of caries resistance should persist well into middle age. But it is quite impossible to estimate the financial effect on the general dental service. The effect will be less to reduce costs than to make a more effective and economic use of the nation's dental manpower.

Mr. Eden

Would not the cost of dental treatment be considerably reduced if children were encouraged to eat fewer sweets and iced lollies and to clean their teeth with greater regularity rather than that the Government should bring in any form of mass medication?

Mr. Braine

I agree with my hon. Friend that more discipline on the part of parents and children would go a long way towards reducing dental decay.

21. Mr. Eden

asked the Minister of Health in what forms, other than by fluoridation of the water supply, fluorides can be made available for general consumption; and what would be the comparative costs of introducing each method on a national scale.

Mr. Powell

I would refer my hon. Friend to my reply on 30th July to the hon. Member for Wood Green (Mrs. Butler).

Mr. Eden

Is it not a fact that fluorides are available in pills and toothpaste, and in foodstuffs and in other forms which the public can quite readily acquire should they require to do so, and would it not be much cheaper to encourage them to do this than to do what he is proposing?

Mr. Powell

No, it would not be cheaper for a given effect because I am advised that there is no other method of preventing dental decay which is as effective as correction of the deficiency of natural fluoride where that exists.

Lord Balniel

Does my right hon. Friend recollect that the campaign against chlorination of water and pasteurisation of milk were both conducted on the ground that this was mass-medication, and in view of the now overwhelming evidence that this is the cheapest and most effective way of benefiting the health of children, will he do his utmost to encourage local authorities to undertake this?

Mr. Powell

I am sure that my hon. Friend speaks with the voice of the overwhelming majority of people.

22. Mr. Eden

asked the Minister of Health what research has been conducted to investigate the cumulative effects of imbibing fluoride; and what conclusions have been reached.

Mr. Powell

The main research with the conclusions reached is summarised in Appendix 8 of the Report on the Fluoridation Studies in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Eden

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied from these reports that there is no danger at all of cumulative effects over at least a generation of time, and can he say whether it is possible to vary the contents of fluoridation according to the needs of the individual or even according to the nature of the water which is being treated?

Mr. Powell

The answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question is, yes, absolutely. As regards the second part, the main object of fluoridation is to bring the fluoride content, whatever it may be, up to a given level. There is no need for a variation in the level of fluoridation in areas where this is carried out artificially any more than in areas where fluoride is naturally present.

Dr. Stross

Can the right hon. Gentleman give a figure estimating how many hundred of millions of people on this planet are drinking water which has more than one part per million, and is there any evidence whatever that they come to any harm by it?

Mr. Powell

I cannot give the total number. In this country it is about one-third of a million and in the United States, I believe, it is over 7 million, and there is no such evidence or suggestion whatsoever.