Why fluoride should be mandated across Queensland

It’s safe, effective, and helps prevent kids from suffering painful lifelong dental problems. It’s about time Queensland caught up to the rest of the country, writes Paul Brescia.

Mayor Greg Williamson raising a glass following Mackay Regional Council's decision to remove fluoride from the region's water in 2016.

Queensland is lagging behind the rest of Australia when it comes to having access to fluoridated water, and there is none available in the Mackay-Whitsundays.

This needlessly condemns kids to worse dental outcomes, and means families end up spending thousands of dollars more to repair preventable issues.

The only opinions that matter on whether we should fluoridate water are dentists, the trained professionals who see inside our mouths and have to fix and clean them, day in, day out.

Not a single dentist we spoke with told us fluoridating water is a bad idea, and even those who considered the balance of individual rights vs. public health said there is a clear difference between kids’ teeth in regions that have and do not have it in the water.

Deb Lyons with her children Kiara and Blake were happy to see fluoride back in Mackay's water supply in 2013, but that was short lived. Photo Lee Constable/Daily Mercury

Of course, when it comes to rights some naturally come into conflict with others — it’s the sign of a mature society which can debate and decide how to balance the conflicting interests of the individual and the good of the whole.

But kids don’t get a choice.

Mackay dentist Dr Carly Featherstone had to remove every single tooth out of the mouth of five kids under five in just 12 months. Photo: Fergus Gregg

They have to put up with the consequences of the decisions the adults make.

The Bligh government was the adult in the room when it mandated fluoride, and with the benefit of hindsight, the Newman government’s decision to throw it to the councils was wrong.

We learned that local councils were not equipped to handle issues of public health, nor the fallout from the debate motivated by false claims about fluoride being harmful.

This masthead will not entertain them.

Cartoonist Harry Bruce's take on the fluoride debate.

It is safe, effective, and study after study at the population level shows it benefits kids.

Why should kids in Mackay be destined to worse dental outcomes for life compared to regional cities in NSW, Victoria, WA or Tasmania?

Has the debate become too politically toxic to work through?

That’s an indictment on both parties if so.

Governments should act in the interests of the public, not in the interests of re-election.

And until the federal government adds dental to Medicare you’ll keep paying for a lack of fluoride in the water.

Originally published as Why fluoride should be mandated across Queensland