Last updated 05:41, Friday, 03 October 2008

Dianne Standen’s daughter has had to spend thousands of pounds on cosmetic dentistry after developing mottled, discoloured teeth. She has had to pay for veneers to cover the damage done by the condition called dental fluorosis.

And Ms Standen is convinced it is down to the fluoride added to the reservoirs supplying her home.

Yet discoloured teeth are only the visible evidence. Ms Standen, from Maryport, fears the added fluoride could also be causing damage inside the body which we cannot see.

She is co-founder of Cumbrians Against Flouridation, a pressure group set up to have the fluoride removed from local water supplies – and to fight plans to add it elsewhere.

Currently two reservoirs in the county, Corn How and Ennerdale, have fluoride added to their waters. They supply homes in west Cumbria, stretching from Aspatria in the north down the coast to Ravenglass, and inland as far as Embleton.

Members of Cumbrians Against Fluoridation fear this flouridated water could be to blame for joint and muscle pains, thyroid problems, and ailments as varied as vomiting, difficulty sleeping, nose bleeds, headaches and skin inflammations.

So even if it did improve teeth, Ms Standen says, it is doing more harm than good.

“My children both had several health problems which, when you look at the literature, could be related to fluoride,” said Ms Standen, 57.

“In the group we have heard of other people who developed problems when they moved into this area. When they moved out and stopped drinking the water, their problems cleared up.

“I suspect that in time we may find more evidence.”

These cases are not conclusive proof that fluoride in the water is harmful. Any number of factors can cause any number of illnesses.

But as Ms Standen points out, it was a long time before a link between cigarettes and cancer was proven.

Nor, she adds, is there any proof that fluoride isn’t to blame for them.

“There has been no long-term research about the effects,” she says. “If you are going to put something in our water, you need to be absolutely, 100 per cent sure that there are no hidden health issues – and they are not 100 per cent sure.

“It beggars belief that a body entrusted with improving your health is dogmatically promoting this.”

Ms Standen also believes fluoridation goes against the current philosophy in health.

“The language is all about patient choice and evidence-based medicine at the moment. But this seems to have slipped under the radar.”

Tiny amounts of fluoride occur naturally in water, and supporters of fluoridation say they want to adjust the levels to improve our teeth. But Ms Standen said this claim is misleading.

“Calcium fluoride occurs naturally, but what they are adding is hexafluorosilic acid, which is a very different substance.

“It is a by-product of fertiliser and also contains heavy metals and other contaminants. I don’t think anyone should be drinking a chemical cocktail.”

In any case, she pointed out that nutrition and dental hygiene could just as easily do the job as fluoride. Simply brushing your teeth regularly and limiting your intake of sugary food and drink will protect them.

“There are very few people who are incapable of cleaning their teeth and aren’t aware that it is important,” she said.

And she added that the children whose teeth are most at risk won’t benefit, as they get their fluids from sugary fizzy drinks – not from tap water.

Eight years ago, scientists at York University examined 30 different studies into fluoridation, but were unable to come down for or against it.

But while the jury’s out Dianne believes adding fluoride should be put on hold.