{"id":218591,"date":"2018-09-19T13:40:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T03:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=218591"},"modified":"2020-09-23T16:03:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T06:03:33","slug":"dental-dark-age-in-south-burnett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/09\/19\/dental-dark-age-in-south-burnett\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dental Dark Age’ In South Burnett"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
AMA Qld president Dr Dilip Dhupelia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 19, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medical groups accused the South Burnett Regional Council on Wednesday of condemning residents “to a dental dark age”\u00a0by failing to fluoridate the local water supply.<\/p>\n

AMA Queensland and the Australian Dental Association Queensland (ADAQ) called on the SBRC – and the Bundaberg, Fraser Coast and North Burnett councils – to “end fluoride foolishness” and immediately begin fluoridating water supplies.<\/p>\n

South Burnett councillors voted unanimously in January 2013 to end fluoridation, partly because of the cost and partly because they believed few people actually drank town water.<\/p>\n

The decision was expected to save between $170,000 and $200,000 a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 2007 report commissioned by the former Kingaroy Shire Council found that 69 per cent of Kingaroy residents rated the taste of the water supply as \u201cvery poor\u201d; a further 23 per cent rated it as \u201cpoor\u201d; and most used tank water or other water sources for drinking.<\/p>\n

The region was forced to fluoridate town water supplies in 2008 after the then-Labor State Government made the practice mandatory in Queensland.<\/p>\n

Five fluoride plants were installed in the region by the State Government at a cost of $2 million but\u00a0the Council had to pay for their ongoing operation and maintenance.<\/p>\n

The law was changed in 2012 and the SBRC was quick to act.<\/p>\n

However, the AMA and\u00a0ADAQ have pointed to the dental health benefits of fluoridation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a travesty that councils abandoned fluoridation before the long-term benefits for the community became apparent,\u201d AMA Queensland president Dr Dilip Dhupelia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains a safe and very cost-effective way of preventing tooth decay in both children and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

The medical groups say fluoridation costs as little as 60 cents per person per year.<\/p>\n

ADAQ President Professor Laurie Walsh said it beggared belief so many people in the region were being denied such a simple and inexpensive preventative health measure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prof Walsh said unfounded myths had no place in any debate about fluoridation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFluoride is a naturally occurring substance that is found in rocks and filters into water sources; in fact, its introduction to drinking water came after researchers noticed lower incidence of tooth decay where fluoride was present in the water supply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny suggestion that fluoride doesn\u2019t work or causes cancer or chronic illness ignores decades of irrefutable evidence of it being safe as well as effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

A three-year University of Queensland study found a 19 per cent reduction in tooth decay among children aged between five and nine in the Logan-Beaudesert region after their water supply was fluoridated.<\/p>\n

\u201cCombined with good oral hygiene and nutrition, study after study has shown fluoridation reduces the incidence of tooth decay by as much as 40 per cent,\u201d Prof Walsh said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medical groups accused the South Burnett Regional Council on Wednesday of condemning residents “to a dental dark age”\u00a0by failing to fluoridate the local water supply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":278026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"\n'Dental Dark Age' In South Burnett - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Medical groups accused the South Burnett Regional Council on Wednesday of condemning residents "to a dental dark age"\u00a0by failing to fluoridate the local water supply.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/09\/19\/dental-dark-age-in-south-burnett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Dental Dark Age' In South Burnett - 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