Earl Baldwin of Bewdleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the principal study or studies which demonstrates that 1 part per million of fluoride in water is an "optimal" level for human teeth. [HL490]
§ Baroness HaymanThe conclusion that this was the optimal level was reached in the 1950s at the start of the fluoridation programme in the United Kingdom. No research findings or advice since then have altered that conclusion. Reliance was not placed on a single or small group of studies. However,The Fluoridation of Domestic Water Supplies in North America as a means of controlling Dental Caries: Report of the United Kingdom Mission (1953), Ministry of Health, Department of Health for Scotland, Ministry of Housing and Local Government (HMSO London), provides a useful summary. Other relevant studies, of which we have placed copies in the Library, are Domestic Water and Dental Caries: Dean HT, Jay P, Arnold FA and 145WA Elvove E (1941) Public Health Reports (Wash) 56 pp 761–792 and Caries Incidence and Enamel Defects in Areas with Different Levels of Fluoride in the Drinking Water: Forrest JR. (1956). Brit Dent J. 100 No 8 pp 195–200.