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78
Statistics reveal the inescapable truth that dental caries occurs
in 98% of the population, the cost of which is in excess of £65
millions per annum. In a "normal" child the chances are that
it will have as many decayed teeth as years and if, at 16 years,
an adolescent has no cavities he/she will be alone among 1,000
others. By the age of 50, the overwhelming odds are that a person
will be wearing some artificial denture. Of all adults in
England and Wales, one third are edentate (in part probably due
to the fact that many people, especially in the North and West
of the country, prefer extraction to filling).
A consensus of informed medical and lay opinion is that
fluoridation is an efficient method of safeguarding teeth from
dental decay. However, the preventive properties of fluoride
really need no advocacy, merely publicity. Nature, herself, has
proved effectively that in areas where fluoride occurs naturally
in drinking water, a very substantial level of prevention is conferred.
Fluoridation can be a money saver. Ten years of fluoridation at
Hastings, New Zealand, have reduced expenditure of public
funds on dental treatment to less than half and statistics in respect
of authorities in England and Wales where the average fluoride
content of domestic water supplies is at or above the recommended
concentration show that the cost per head for dental
treatment is substantially less than where the converse is true.
In urging fluoridation of water supplies two recent Reports,
those of the Health Education Council and the British Dental
Health Foundation, state that it remains a first priority in preventing
tooth decay yet only 22 water authorities were supplying about
3 million people with treated water. It was reported that although
99% of children suffered from dental caries, because of staff shortages,
only about 25% received school dental treatment. Moreover,
it was further stated that 10% of 5-year-old children have
rampant caries, a quarter of whom will be forced to wear dentures
by the age of 20 years.
Continuing health education programmes are apparently having
some beneficial effects upon the dietary habits of school
children who use school "tuck shops". According to the results
of a survey published in "Education", crisps have taken the place
of the traditional cream bun as the most popular item and the
sale of nuts and raisins and savoury biscuits is rising. Less
confectionery is sold although chocolate biscuits remain a heavy
market but, due to the problem of storage and rapid deterioration,
fresh fruit is not often available. It would seem that older
children tend to make more use of tuck shop facilities and these