A subsidy for fluoride tablets will be introduced for children in Bourke and North Bourke instead of fluoridating the town water supply.

Bourke Shire Council abandoned the commissioning of a fluoridation plant last month because of uncertainty about where the maze of old water mains go.

Mayor Wayne O’Mally says the council will offer a 50 per cent subsidy to children up to the age of 12.

He says tablets will be available from the local pharmacy.

“There’ll just be a track record kept there for security purposes as far as the amount of tablets that go because there’s such a thing as overdosing with fluoride too, so there has to be careful monitoring of the situation to make sure the families understand what the correct dosage rate is and how often it is to be administered,” he said.

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