Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of fluoridation on children’s oral health.

The Department recently published ‘Water fluoridation: health monitoring report for England 2022’ which assessed the impact of water fluoridation on children’s oral health. The report found that in areas with a fluoridation scheme in place, five year olds were less likely to experience tooth decay and children and young people were less likely to be admitted to hospital to have decayed teeth removed than in areas without a scheme. These effects were seen at all levels of deprivation with children and young people in the most deprived areas benefitting the most. In the most deprived 20% of areas, the risk of experiencing tooth decay was found to be 25% lower in areas with a fluoridation scheme than in areas without.