asked the Minister for Health if he will state, having regard to the recent report on the high incidence of dental caries in the schoolchildren of South Tipperary and the low percentage of fluoride in the county's piped water supplies, what advice he has for the local authority as to the methods they should adopt to deal with this situation and to safeguard the dental health of the children; and what power he has to ensure that the local authority take the advice which he may give them in the matter and carry out his recommendations without avoidable delay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Incidence of Dental Caries.
3.
I presume the reference in the question is to the report which I recently presented to each House of the Oireachtas of the results of the survey, carried out by the Medical Research Council of Ireland, at my request, of the incidence of dental caries among school children in the health authority area of Tipperary (South Riding) and three other areas, and of the analyses of public piped water supplies in those areas.
It has been conclusively established that the fluoridation of public piped water supplies to the extent of 1 p.p.m. can reduce the incidence of dental caries by as much as 60 per cent. It was in the light of this knowledge that I introduced a Bill, which would require local authorities to add fluorine to their water supplies, and which became law in 1960.
The fluoridation of their public piped water supplies is obviously a most important step which the local health authority in South Tipperary, and in every area, should take in order to reduce the incidence of dental caries. I have power under the relevant legislation—the Health (Fluoridation of Water Supplies) Act, 1960—to make regulations providing for the addition of fluorine to public supplies, but I do not propose to make regulations applying to South Tipperary pending the decision of the Supreme Court in the current appeal against the findings of the High Court upholding the constitutionality of the Act.
I may say that regulations made in this matter would be mandatory, and that I see no reason to anticipate that the South Tipperary authorities would not implement regulations applicable to them, without avoidable delay.
Fluoridation apart, the health authority should take all possible measures to develop the public dental services in their area. In that connection, I am glad to say that the health authority have agreed to my suggestion that they should appoint a senior dental officer to their staff. I have no doubt that this appointment, which is now in train, will prove of great assistance in the organisation and coordination of the dental services in the area.
Experience has also shown that a reasonable reduction in the rate of dental caries can be achieved by dental care and hygiene, and the health authority should ensure that children and adults are made fully aware of the importance of this aspect of dentistry.