Nine fluoride defects found

Press, 26 May 1984, Page 6

Nine fluoride defects found

PA Auckland Only nine of 1758 nine-year-olds whose teeth were checked in a survey last month had defects caused by fluoride, according to the Medical Research Council. The Auckland survey showed that tooth enamel defects were just as likely to occur in areas without fluoride in the water supply as in fluoridated areas, the council’s dental research unit said. Its interim report, released this week, said that defects of a mild to moder ate nature were found in

per cent of children from the fluoridated areas, compared with 27 per cent from non-fluoridated areas. “Cosmetically disfiguring” defects were seen in 1.4 per cent of children exposed to fluoride, compared with 1.2 per cent of those not exposed. Equal numbers, 18 per cent in each case, had white patches on their teeth. The principal difference noted was the incidence of defects classified as “diffuse,” the unit said. These defects would not usually be visible to an untrained eye.

About 19 per cent of children in fluoridated areas had diffuse defects, while the figure in non-fluoridated areas was 8 per cent. The dental research unit will release a full report in October. The man who promoted the survey by his criticisms of fluoride, Dr John Colquhoun, said that the survey did not change his opinion that excessive use of fluoride caused white flecks on children’s teeth. Dr Colquhoun, the retiring principal dental officer for the Health Department in Auckland, had called for

fluoride to be taken out of the water supply after a survey he conducted last year. Dr Colquhoun criticised the research unit's method of survey saying it left a lot up to the personal opinion of the person examining the children's teeth. Even the finding of nine children in the survey with fluorosis was cause for concern. he said. That suggested there were thousands of children throughout the country with the problem, he said.