Closing the door on children’s teeth.

Closing the door on children’s teeth.

The Otago District Health Board announced last week it will close 85 school dental clinics in the region. Southland’s clinics will also be closed. The closure is strongly opposed by the Otago Primary Principals Association, which predicts half Otago’s children will not be able to properly access dental care under the new hub-based scheme.

Paradoxically, the move follows the recent announcement of big reductions in child tooth decay in Canterbury, through its “lift the lip” programme, which increased access of children to dental services before tooth decay set in.

“This is the same Health Board that claims to be so passionate about improving children’s dental health it keeps trying to force toxic fluoride down their throats. If this double-standard were not so sickening it would be laughable” says Mark Atkin, Fluoride Action Network representative on the recently-launched Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition. Fluoridation promoters use the poor as justification for fluoridation – saying it helps them more than the rest. Yet it is the poor that Otago Principals have identified will be most excluded from dental care under the new system.

“We used to have a school dental service that was the envy of the world - all children could access it for free. The demise of that service is a major threat to children’s dental health. It is simply two-faced for a Health Board to say we have to have fluoridation because it is so heart-wrenching to do teeth extractions on under-5s, then further decimate the school dental service” says Mr Atkin.

Fluoridation has been contentious for 60 years. Since 2000 the Ministry of Health has embarked on a nationwide fluoridation promotion campaign. “Those of us who are truly interested in health have become so sickened by lack of integrity, personal attacks, and outright lies told by the Ministry and its allies that 7 national organisations, with 4 more supporting us, have formed a coalition to end this nonsense once and for all” advises Mr Atkin.

“Fluoridation does not reduce tooth decay according to all recent large scale studies (there is a false appearance of a small temporary reduction in children due to delayed tooth eruption). Its potential for harm, especially to infants, far outweighs any possible benefit it could have, when the upcoming generation of New Zealanders has on average less than 2 fillings” Mr Atkin concludes.

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