Residents attack fluoridation consultation
Posted
A Castlemaine group has accused the Department of Human Services (DHS) of providing little consultation on the fluoridation of drinking water supplies in the area.
The Castlemaine Safe Water Action Group says the decision to fluoridate supplies from the end of the month has shocked residents.
Castlemaine, Campbells Creek, Fryerstown, Maldon and Elphinstone will be among 10 towns affected.
The group's convenor, Debbie Smith, says two information sessions on the plan were poorly advertised and attended.
She says research on the benefits of fluoridation for dental health are inconclusive.
"The DHS have been stretching the truth all the way down the line on fluoridation, on its safety and its efficiency, all those sort of things, it [is] annoying people and thinking people especially," she said.
Meanwhile, dentists say there is strong data to support the fluoridation of drinking water supplies in the Castlemaine area.
The Australian Dental Association of Victoria says a nationwide survey has found big differences in dental health between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas.
The president, Dr Mark Bowman, says there is an improvement in dental health of up to 66 per cent among seven-year-old children in fluoridated areas.
"Just anecdotal evidence. I've even had patients who have had children in Melbourne, they've moved rural, they've seen their first children grow up without cavities and then had their children in a non-fluoridated area grow up with cavities and then been utterly convinced themselves," he said.
