Community water fluoridation and the benefits for adults

Abstract

While community water fluoridation (CWF) is widely endorsed by public health bodies around the world as an effective and safe public health measure to reduce levels of tooth decay, much of the evidence underpinning this, and therefore much of the stated rationale, is centred on the benefits for children, despite dental caries in adults being a significant public health problem. In this article, we explore why this is and what the available evidence tells us about the impact of CWF on adults. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Fluoridation is an issue to consider when risk-assessing patients of all ages for dental caries.