Bega District News published the following Letter to the Editor written by ADA NSW President Sabrina Manickam in support of water fluoridation:

Clean Bill of Health

The Australian Dental Association NSW supports fluoridation as a safe, effective, equitable and cost-effective method of preventing dental decay and urges Bega Valley Shire Council to fluoridate the Brogo-Bermagui and the Tantawanglo-Kiah water supplies for the good of all in the community.

Residents without fluoridated water are disadvantaged and should not be denied the benefits that water fluoridation brings.

Water fluoridation has been in the NSW water supply for more than 60 years. Over this time, we have seen considerable improvements in oral health and, in parallel, there has been no documented medical side-effects of water fluoridation.

Water fluoridation benefits everyone regardless of age, individual motivation, socio-economic status or the availability of dental care. It is one of the few public health measures that transcends socio-economic barriers and benefits the disadvantaged.

No other health measure has been exposed to such scrutiny and been given an ongoing clean bill of health. All adverse claims made by opponents of fluoridation worldwide have been scrupulously investigated by scientists and found to lack any credible scientific evidence.

A testament to this is that water fluoridation has been endorsed and recommended by more than 150 scientific, health and political organisations throughout the world. In fact, water fluoridation to prevent dental decay has been rated as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th Century, alongside the eradication of smallpox and elimination of poliomyelitis, by the prestigious scientific body, the US Centers for Disease Control.

Dr Sabrina Manickam, President
Australian Dental Association NSW

View the published Letter to the Editor here