More good news about water

A new study tells us that children who drink fluoridated water have better dental health as adults. In the upcoming October issue of American Journal of Public Health, Matthew Neidell reports a strong correlation between fluoride levels in the water of the county a person grew up in and tooth loss as an adult. More exposure to fluoride as a child, less missing teeth as an adult.

“Your fluoridation exposure at birth is affecting your tooth loss in your 40s and 50s, regardless of what your fluoridation exposure was like when you were 20 and 30 years old,” said Neidell, a health policy professor at Columbia University. He collected water census data from the 1950s and 1960s and compared it to dental records from the 1990s.

The American Dental Association, which since 1950 has enthusiastically supported fluoridation of water systems in our communities, says scientists continue to show in various studies and anecdotally that adding the mineral to water is safe and undoubtedly aids tooth health. One 2007 study of Kaiser Permanente HMO members even found that adults benefitted from fluoridated water more than children. It’s good for everyone.

And follow the dollars. Pollick referred to a study of Medicaid dental patients in Louisiana which showed that for every one dollar spent on water fluoridation, the state saved $38 in dental costs.

“We know that the benefits of fluoridation are greatest from birth,” added Howard Pollick, a professor of clinical dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco. “This recent study adds credence to that.”

Source: David Pittman/Center for Advancing Health, Science Daily