Based on a comprehensive review of the evidence and the translation of this evidence into the Information Paper Water fluoridation: dental and other human health outcomes, this also takes into consideration what the situation is here in Australia compared to elsewhere.
Publication Data
Released on 9 November 2017, this Public Statement recommends community water fluoridation as a safe, effective and ethical way to help reduce tooth decay, and a range within which NHMRC supports states and territories fluoridating their drinking water supplies.
The 2017 Public Statement is based on a comprehensive review of the evidence, published in 2016, and the translation of this evidence into the NHMRC Information Paper – Water fluoridation: dental and other human health outcomes, published in 2017. It also takes into consideration what the situation is here in Australia (compared to that in many countries in the northern hemisphere which have high levels of naturally occurring fluoride).
NHMRC has also published Water Fluoridation and Human Health in Australia: Questions and Answers to support the release of the 2017 Public Statement. NHMRC developed this resource in consultation with state and territory health representatives to assist them to provide nationally consistent messages on water fluoridation to the public (See Additional resources).
Background
NHMRC has publicaly supported community water fluoridation as a population health measure since 1952, and regularly reviews the scientific evidence on this topic.
In 2007 NHMRC published a Systematic Review on the Efficacy and Safety of Fluoridation. Based on this work, NHMRC issued a Public Statement: The Efficacy and Safety of Fluoridation 2007 (available on the Australian Government Web Archive) which recommends that water be fluoridated in the range of 0.6 to 1.1 mg/L. Since the 2007 NHMRC review, new research has been published on the impact of water fluoridation and possible impacts on health.
Therefore, in 2014, NHMRC commenced a new evidence evaluation on the health effects of fluoride in drinking water to make sure that the evidence that underpins its advice (issues as a public statement) is up to date and relevant for the Australian community. The conclusion reached by NHMRC is that the existing body of evidence consistently shows that water fluoridation safely and effectively reduces tooth decay across the population at the current Australian levels.
