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Rotorua children have some of the worst tooth decay in the country but the local council is ignoring the problem, the health board says.
The Rotorua District Council is under fire from the Lakes District Health Board for voting against a proposal for a public referendum on fluoridating local water supplies.
But Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters says the responsibility for water fluoridation lies with the Government if it believes fluoride is necessary to improve the state of children's teeth.
The Ministry of Health advocates fluoridation, saying it is a proven method of preventing tooth decay, but Health Minister Pete Hodgson has said it is up to individual communities to decide whether to fluoridate their water.
The Rotorua council voted last week eight to five not to proceed with a binding referendum on the issue, proposed by the health board.
Board chairman Stewart Edward, who is also a dentist, said the council's vote was "very sad".
"More than half the district councillors continue to have their head in the sand on what is a significant health issue," he said.
Rotorua consistently ranks among the worst three districts in the country for tooth decay, the other two being Northland and the rest of Bay of Plenty.
Rotorua 12-year-olds have an average 2.23 decayed, missing or filled teeth, compared with the national average of 1.67.
The ministry's chief adviser of oral health, Robin Whyman, said the figure was especially high when the fact that 45 per cent of children had no cavities was considered.
In Australia and Britain, rates of decayed, missing or filled teeth are between one and 1.2 a child.
Northland usually ranks worst here and local authorities in Kaikohe and Kaitaia recently voted to introduce fluoride to their water.
Some areas in Bay of Plenty have fluoridated water but Tauranga - the largest centre - is not among them and also has high rates of decay.
In Rotorua, as in other regional centres, the debate about whether to fluoridate water has been raging for years.
Every year, when considering the district's annual plan, the council votes on the issue.
This year was the first time a proposal for a binding referendum had been made and Mayor Winters, who voted for the referendum, said he was disappointed at the lack of support from other councillors.
He said a referendum tied to local body elections in September would have been a cost-effective way of gauging the community's opinion on whether it wanted to fluoridate the district's 11 water supplies.
Although reluctant to disclose his personal opinion on fluoridation, saying he would support the community either way, the mayor believed the way forward with fluoridation was to make it central government policy.
"If they can do it with putting folic acid in bread, why not do it with fluoride as well?"
The Government supports fluoridation but has been reluctant to make it compulsory.
"The Government has long said fluoridation is a community issue and one that is part of local decision-making," a spokeswoman for Mr Hodgson said.
In December, the minister said fluoridation prevented up to a quarter of a million decayed or missing teeth every year but that too many communities were still living without fluoridated water supplies.
"There is no doubt the most important step we could take towards protecting the teeth of our children would be an urgent expansion of fluoridated water supplies."
Rotorua's Fluoride Free Water Group said the only parties promoting fluoridation were the ministry and the health board.
"It's not coming from any groundswell from the public," spokesman Eric Winslade said.
Many local communities and other countries had rejected fluoridation and there was substantial evidence to show it did not work.
"Fluoridation does not cure cavities in teeth," Mr Winslade said. "The fluoride is already in water. Nature puts it there. Any additive is superfluous and, if there's too much there, it's dangerous to us."
Fluoridation began in Hastings in 1954 and there are now 84 fluoridated water supplies.
Elementary
*Fluoride is found in air, soil, fresh water, seawater, plants and many foods.
*Fluorides are often incorporated into toothpastes.
*Fluoride was first added to local water supplies in Hastings in 1954.
Source: Ministry of Health
