‘Drink fluoride to keep teeth in old age’

Older Irish people who drink fluoridated water are more likely to keep their teeth, a study shows.

Researchers from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) and the School of Dental Science in Trinity College Dublin found a positive relationship between higher levels of water fluoridation and oral health among older Irish people.

The researchers found that a higher prevalence of households with fluoridated water in a local electoral district was associated with an increased probability of an older person having all their own teeth.

“While the initial focus of water fluoridation in Ireland was to prevent tooth cavities in children, much less attention has been paid to the effects of fluoridation later in life,” said Brian O’Connell, professor of restorative dentistry at the Dublin Dental School and Hospital.

“There are now large adult populations that have lived several decades with fluoridated water supplies, yet the benefits and risks for these populations have remained unclear.”

Prof O’Connell noted that the results had limitations as tooth loss could be the result of other processes such as gum disease, wear, trauma, and access to dental care.

“In addition, it was not possible to assess the impact of other sources of fluoride, such as diet, toothpaste, and mouth rinses, which could all have an impact on oral health,” he said.

In order to assess the relationships between water fluoridation and oral health and bone density in adults over the age of 50, the researchers used data from 4,977 adults participating in the Tilda study and data from Census 2006 which records the type of water supply in a person’s local area. According to the census, around 84% of households have fluoridated water.

The report says the safety of water fluoridation has been extensively reviewed internationally and was found to have either no detrimental effect on general health or no clear evidence of toxicity.

Nonetheless, fluoridation is controversial in some communities and suspicion remains that it represents a significant health risk. The authors say it is therefore essential that the health effects of fluoridation be investigated in the Irish context.

One of the co-authors of the study, Vincent O’Sullivan said: “A third wave of Tilda data collection and assessment, which is currently under way, will allow us to extend this research to include an objective measure of oral health status and individual lifetime exposure to fluoridated drinking water.

“This will facilitate further research on the health effects of exposure to fluoridated water supplies.”