Studying the Bachelor of Oral Health Program at CQ University gave me an opportunity to learn about various interventions for preventing dental caries. Among them, a water fluoridation always seemed to be for me the most obvious, non-contestable form of prevention against an oral decay. I was really surprised when I learned that fluoridation of water supplies is not a standard in Australia. Even more, Australia is experiencing a regress in access to fluoridated water and a future trend is unclear.
Ever since I started to have an interest in oral health, I had a strong opinion on the effectiveness of water fluoridation. I fully supported it, because all I read in reports prepared by dental professional bodies and dental textbooks unanimously …show more content…
It is beneficial to everybody, but especially for individuals who cannot effort a dental treatment or have inadequate oral hygiene. It does not require much effort to check that inequalities in oral health exist and a gap between less affluent and rest of the Australian population increases. Data available in reports published by governmental agencies state that poor oral health is 2.6 times more frequent among the low socioeconomic group (SES) than in the highest SES (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016, p.184). Furthermore, Australian population experiences strong negative correlation between numbers of caries and annual household income. (Chrisopoulos, Harford and Ellershaw 2016, p.9). Finally, 35.4% people with the lowest income have untreated caries, in comparison to 16.5% these with the biggest income (Chrisopoulos, Harford and Ellershaw 2016, p.10).
All in all, I decided to check, how is it possible that so many Councils ignore voices of dental professionals and what is more important to check, whether is a water fluoridation an effective tool in the reduction of social inequalities in oral health? I would like to find an answer to this last question by reviewing scientific literature on this topic. The review assumedly will give an evidence-based proof for the effectiveness of fluoridation in improving oral health among the low SES and offer an argument in lobbying for fluoridated water wherever it is economically
Ever since I started to have an interest in oral health, I had a strong opinion on the effectiveness of water fluoridation. I fully supported it, because all I read in reports prepared by dental professional bodies and dental textbooks unanimously …show more content…
It is beneficial to everybody, but especially for individuals who cannot effort a dental treatment or have inadequate oral hygiene. It does not require much effort to check that inequalities in oral health exist and a gap between less affluent and rest of the Australian population increases. Data available in reports published by governmental agencies state that poor oral health is 2.6 times more frequent among the low socioeconomic group (SES) than in the highest SES (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016, p.184). Furthermore, Australian population experiences strong negative correlation between numbers of caries and annual household income. (Chrisopoulos, Harford and Ellershaw 2016, p.9). Finally, 35.4% people with the lowest income have untreated caries, in comparison to 16.5% these with the biggest income (Chrisopoulos, Harford and Ellershaw 2016, p.10).
All in all, I decided to check, how is it possible that so many Councils ignore voices of dental professionals and what is more important to check, whether is a water fluoridation an effective tool in the reduction of social inequalities in oral health? I would like to find an answer to this last question by reviewing scientific literature on this topic. The review assumedly will give an evidence-based proof for the effectiveness of fluoridation in improving oral health among the low SES and offer an argument in lobbying for fluoridated water wherever it is economically