§ 13. Miss Quennellasked the Minister of Health what action he is taking to promote dental health, particularly among children.
§ Mr. BraineThe promotion of health education and of fluoridation. I am sending my hon. Friend copies of recent circulars giving details of the steps which local health and education authorities are encouraged to take.
§ Miss QuennellWhile thanking my hon. Friend for promising to send me the literature he mentioned, does he realise that this country consumes per head almost more sugar than any other country in the world, and that our younger children seem to be sucking and licking and chewing their teeth away? Could he do something more positive than sending me this literature? My teeth are fine.
§ Mr. BraineI entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the state of the dental health of our children, and I am glad that she has drawn attention to the matter. I think it would be best if she awaited the material which I am sending her before forming a judgment. A great deal of education in this field is going on at the moment with some success in my hon. Friend's own county of Hampshire.
§ Mr. John HallIs my hon. Friend right in this policy of continued fluoridation of water? Is it not wrong that we should be forced to take drugs, or more medicaments, whether we wish to have them or not, without any alternative?
§ Mr. BraineFluoride is not a drug. Fluoridation is simply the process of adding to water something which is already present there. In my own County of Essex, far example, there are people who, throughout their lives, and their ancestors for generations before them, have been drinking up to five times the amount of fluoride that has been recommended. Fluoridation of water supplies has the effect of halving the incidence of dental decay in children. I cannot think of any measure of public health more beneficial than that.