Fluoridate more towns, says ADATas

With 36 towns Tasmanian towns not having fluoridated water, dentists have urged the State Government to extend fluoridation to rural communities to fight poor oral health.

In a submission to the Government, the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Dental Association has called for communities with as few as 500 people to have access to fluoridated water supplies.

Tasmania has the worst adult oral health in the nation, blamed partly on a more decentralised population reliant on non-fluoridated drinking water. (Ironically, Tasmania was the first State to introduce fluoridated water in the gold mining town of Beaconsfield in 1953.)

According to The Mercury newspaper, towns without fluoridated water are: Adventure Bay, Bell Bay, Bicheno, Bothwell, Bracknell, Branxholm, Colebrook, Coles Bay, Conara, Cornwall, Currie, Derby, Dowlings Creek, Ellendale, Epping, Fingal, Gladstone, Gormanston, Grassy, Gretna, Herrick, Judbury, Lady Barron, Legerwood, Mathinna, Maydena, Mole Creek, Mountain River, Ouse, Pioneer, Ringarooma, Scamander, Tullah, Tunbridge, Wayatinah and Whitemark.

The submission also supported a plan for a “smoke-free generation” rather than a proposal to increase the legal smoking age to 21 or 25.