Experts are calling for the fluoridation of Blackpool’s drinking water to help combat high levels of child tooth decay in the town.
Figures show almost one third of five-year-olds in Blackpool suffer from tooth decay, with less than a third visiting an NHS dentist in 2021. This is compared to more than 40% across England, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
All primary school children in Blackpool in years one to six have had access to fluoridated milk as part of the school breakfast scheme.
Dr Arif Rajpura is Blackpool’s director of public health. According to the BBC, he told a meeting of the town’s health and wellbeing board that lobbying for fluoridation of the water was an important step in helping to tackle the problem.
‘Ultimately we would like a water fluoridation scheme and it is important to keep lobbying around that,’ he said.
‘We don’t have fluoride in our water although we do have it in school milk.’
He also welcomed the health announcement made in the King’s Speech, including the banning of junk food advertising.
Health service dentistry
In January, the House of Commons heard that a mother in Blackpool had to pull her six-year-old child’s tooth out with pliers due to NHS access problems.
Speaking at the time, Blackpool South MP Scott Benton said it was ‘sadly impossible’ for new patients to find a health service dentist.
He said his constituents were ‘pleading with me to get them the treatment they so badly need’.
Original article online at: https://dentistry.co.uk/2024/07/24/calls-for-water-fluoridation-scheme-in-blackpool/