BACKGROUND Epidemiological and animal-based studies have suggested that prenatal and postnatal fluoride exposure has adverse effects on neurodevelopment. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between exposure to fluoridated water and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence among children and adolescents in the United States. METHODS Data on ADHD prevalence a...

Despite great improvements in terms of reduced prevalence and amount of dental caries in populations worldwide, problems still persist particularly among the underprivileged groups of both developed and developing countries. Research and practical experience gained in several countries have demonstrated however, that dental caries can be prevented effectively through establishment of fluoride p...

BACKGROUND Implementing community water fluoridation involves costs, but these need to be considered against the likely benefits. We aimed to assess the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of water fluoridation in New Zealand (NZ) in terms of expenditure and quality-adjusted life years. METHODS Based on published studies, we determined the risk reduction effects of fluoridation, we quantified...

L ong before the passionate debates over cigarettes, DDT, asbestos or the ozone hole, most Americans had heard of only one environmental health controversy: fluoridation. Starting in the 1950s, hundreds of communities across the U.S. became embroiled in heated battles over whether fluorides—ionic compounds containing the element fluorine—should be added to their water systems. On one side was a...

ó Over sixty years of research and recent systematic reviews have shown that water fluoridation is an effective and efficient public health measure for the prevention of dental decay. ó Water fluoridation is particularly appropriate for populations demonstrating moderate to high risk of dental decay. ó At the fluoride concentrations recommended for the prevention of dental decay, human health i...

BACKGROUND Tooth decay is the commonest disease of childhood. We have known for over 90 years that fluoride can prevent tooth decay; it is present in nearly all toothpastes and can be provided in mouthwashes, gels and varnishes. The oldest method of applying fluoride is via the water supply at a concentration of 1 part per million. The two most important reviews of water fluoridation in the Uni...

Mortality in Anglesey from cancer (all sites), cancer of trachea, bronchus, and lung, cancer of stomach, and cancer of all other sites has been compared with mortality in England and Wales at two periods; 1949-53 (before fluoridation) and 1979-83 (after 20 years and more of fluoridation). No evidence has been found to support the hypothesis that water fluoridation affects cancer mortality.

PREFACE There is ample evidence, from many places and over many years, that fluoridation of the public water supply leads to a substantial reduction in dental caries, with all that means in prevention of suffering, inconvenience and unnecessary cost. It can be shown that the beneficial effect of fluoride is significant, whatever other measures are taken in relation to sound nutrition and preven...

This section looks back to some ground-breaking contributions to public health, reproducing them in their original form and adding a commentary on their significance from a modern-day perspective. In this issue, Michael A Lennon reviews the first trial of a fluoridated public water supply. Extracts of the report of the trial by Francis A Arnold et al. in 1956 are reproduced below by permission ...

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted a comprehensive, statewide telephone health interview survey during 1980. Adult members of 1,091 households were interviewed. The purpose of this paper is to report the attitudes and knowledge of the Massachusetts residents surveyed regarding fluoridation, as well as the relation of their attitudes with demographic and socioeconomic variab...