Water fluoridation health monitoring report for England, 2022 – and industry responses

OHID, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has a legal duty to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on health and report on it every four years.

Results from the report include:

In response, Matthew Garrett, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said, “The Faculty of Dental Surgery supports the introduction of water fluoridation. It is a safe and effective public health measure to reduce dental decay and inequalities in dental health.¹

“Today’s report provides further evidence for this. It finds that children and young people in areas in England with higher fluoride concentrations were up to 63 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital for tooth extractions due to decay than those in areas with low fluoride concentrations. In the most deprived 20 per cent of areas, the chance of five-year old children having cavities - or holes in their teeth - was 25 per cent lower in areas with a fluoridation scheme than in areas without.