Medics’ desperate plea over Queensland’s dental health crisis

Astounding revelations show one in 10 Qlders do not have enough teeth to chew their food, sparking a huge call on a controversial but proven way to give people better protection … whether they want it or not.

AMAQ president Dr Nick Yim

The state’s peak medical and dental groups have joined forces to call for a statewide mandate on water fluoridation.

The call comes as research shows an increasing number of Queenslanders do not have enough teeth to chew their food and fluoridation coverage had fallen from 90 per cent of Queenslanders in 2012 to just 70 per cent now – the lowest in Australia.

Dental decay remains the most common preventable disease in the state, prompting the AMAQ and the Australian Dental Association Queensland to write a joint letter to the relevant ministers and all councils in Queensland.

The letter raised concerns about the increasing prevalence and severity of oral disease, particularly among children.

“Fluoridation is widely considered one of the safest and most cost-effective, preventive strategies against dental caries,” the letter states.

“It has been available in Australia for 70 years and across Queensland since 2007 when it was implemented to combat childhood rates of tooth decay up to 30 per cent higher than the national average.”

Cairns Regional Council this week voted against the tooth strengthening mineral from entering the water systems.

The AMAQ insists that the decision by six Cairns councillors to vote against reintroducing fluoride to the local water supply goes against decades of scientific evidence and abandons vulnerable people who cannot afford dental care or healthy food.

“This is another case of regional inequity. The 11 council regions in South East Queensland have fluoridated water through SEQwater but regional and remote council areas have stopped fluoridation mostly as a cost measure,” Australian Medical Association Queensland president Nick Yim said.

An increasing number of Queenslanders do not have enough teeth to chew their food. Photo: iStock

“It is disappointing to continue to see a health care divide between the city and regional areas. It is important for elected leaders to make decisions based on scientific evidence and from medical and dental experts.

“The state government should assist councils with the costs of fluoridating their water supplies as a simple preventive health measure.”

In 2007, then-premier Anna Bligh’s decision to mandate fluoride in the state’s water supply was reversed in 2012 by then LNP premier Campbell Newman.

The 2023 chief health officer’s report states that 89.1 per cent of Queenslanders 15 and older had experienced tooth decay and 1-in-10 had less than the required number of teeth for functional chewing.

The numbers gathered in 2017–18 are likely to have deteriorated.

“Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that is found in all natural water supplies at some concentration,” Dr Yim said.

“Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay, particularly in children’s teeth.”