Ray Lowry, the secretary and treasurer of the British Fluoridation Society (BFS), explains how the society has evolved and adapted.
Charles Darwin said in his Origin of Species book that survival depends not on being the strongest or biggest or loudest but on being the most adaptable to change.
The British Fluoridation Society (BFS) has undergone a change of identity and purpose over the last few years. This change was a must if it was to remain relevant, useful and have a long term future. The late Labour MP Dick Crossman instigated the formation of the BFS in 1969. He was also secretary of state for health and social services, and could see that there was a need for an independent organisation to communicate objectively the benefits of water fluoridation.
Public face of the BFS
This was at a time when caries prevalence was far higher than today. There was an expectation that it would be rolled out across much of the country. Initially the BFS’ strategic aim was to ‘promote improved dental health by securing the optimum fluoride content of water supplies in those areas where high levels of tooth decay are a public health problem through education, information, advice and support to the parties involved in water fluoridation scheme implementation and continuation’.
At least that was the official line. Actually, the BFS spent a lot of time and resources on the politics of fluoridation in the UK. And in carrying out that work, it developed a side to it that was, over the years, to become a handicap: in the 1990s, critics began to describe the BFS as being ‘battle weary’. It had been a long campaign, and there were frustrations as well as rare successes.
The tell-tale signs were there for a growing number of supporters to see. The public face of the BFS on the platform, especially when speaking to sympathisers, portrayed, to many, a siege mentality. This was not surprising as the evidence of effectiveness and safety was constantly growing but without any willingness to move from successive governments.
Future fluoridation
There was a propensity to go in for character assassinations of prominent opponents of water fluoridation, which is never a productive way forward. There was talk of old battles won, the frustrations of battles lost and the lack of recent progress. And there was even a danger that, with such a public persona, the BFS was turning people off water fluoridation. Some of those being put off water fluoridation were the very people we needed to enthuse: local authorities, health promotion professionals, oral health care specialists and also the government.
In recent years the BFS has developed really close and positive relationships with people across the world facing similar challenges. There are now more ways of using fluoride to reduce the prevalence of dental caries. These should be seen as complementary, not alternates. With the prospect of new legislation (which arrived in 2022), the BFS has changed and is now a positive organisation supporting those advocating community water fluoridation.
We have a younger membership and we assist those now tasked with carrying the flag forwards. As seen in the consultation for new schemes in the north east this year, the BFS is a supportive friend to the consultation and implementation process. The BFS will always advocate for the implementation of water fluoridation to reduce tooth decay and improve the health of the population.
Original article online at: https://dentistry.co.uk/2024/07/26/whats-next-for-the-british-fluoridation-society/