New Zealand Dentists Angered By City Council Leaflet

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Dental experts in New Zealand have been left frustrated and angry by information given out to the public by Hamilton City Council.

Experts have accused the city council of providing the public with misleading information about fluoridation. Fluoride was removed from the city’s water supplies in June, despite opposition from the Ministry of Health.

Dental experts believe that a leaflet handed out by the council contains misleading information about fluoride. Dr Jonathan Broadbent, from the University of Otago, said that the main concern is that the information being provided by the city council undermines the advice dentists are giving to their patients on a daily basis.

Dr Broadbent said that the leaflet contains inaccurate information about how much toothpaste and which toothpaste to use and called for it to be scrapped as soon as possible. Dr Broadbent said that dentists recommend that children use a small smear of adult toothpaste and this is not what the leaflet promotes, which will lead to confusion.

A representative for Hamilton City Council said that the comments from Dr Broadbent will be useful for parents who are not sure of how much toothpaste to use on their children’s brushes and added that it used information from health experts and scientists on both sides of the argument when deciding whether or not to keep water fluoridation.

A local news station interviewed a number of residents and the reaction to the cessation of water fluoridation was mixed. A referendum will be held in October to allow residents to have their say on the matter.

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