Home Oral Health British Fluoridation Society gathering momentum – Dentistry Online

British Fluoridation Society gathering momentum – Dentistry Online

by adminjay


Two high profile and highly experienced advocates for community water fluoridation are now joining the British Fluoridation Society.

Alan Johnson, former Labour MP and a Secretary of State for Health, is vice president and Barry Cockcroft, former chief dental officer for England, is joining the BFS council.

Both have history championing the fight for fluoridation in parliament. Alan Johnson supported the proposal to introduce it in Hull. While Barry worked tirelessly as CDO to introduce it in Southampton.

‘Alan joins a long line of high profile social justice campaigners who have added their name to a BFS vice president role,’ chair of the BFS, Steve Bedser, says.

‘Both Alan and Barry have a great record as water fluoridation advocates. I am confident that both will be great assets to the society.’

Quickest and easiest way to improve our health

Jo Churchill MP called on dentists and dental professionals to back water fluoridation at the inaugural Conservative Dentists meeting earlier this year.

The meeting was a chance for dentists and those in the profession to discuss future dental care for children.

During the meeting, conversation turned to water fluoridation after it was mentioned in a parliamentary debate.

‘It is the quickest and easiest way to improve our oral health,’ Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care, said.

‘But we would really like your (the dental profession’s) help.

‘We need dentists to talk to their patients about the benefits of water fluoridation.

‘We need to move the dial, so the next generation can benefit from great oral health.’

A ‘unique opportunity’ for water fluoridation

Along with Ms Churchill, Sara Hurley England CDO and Sir Paul Beresford MP also made a plea for dentists to back fluoridation.

Ms Hurley also highlighted the disconnect with medical colleagues, explaining we need to put the mouth back in the body.

She pointed out if you invest in the smile, you invest in better overall health, and GPs don’t always understand this.

‘We’ve had some successes,’ Sir Paul Beresford MP, Conservative MP for Mole Valley and practising dentist, concluded.

‘But at the moment there’s an atmosphere that we can push through water fluoridation in this government.

‘We have a unique opportunity.

‘Let’s grab it.’



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