Historical View on the Dutch Debate about Water Fluoridation (DWF)

The objective of this study is to give a brief historical view on the debate of the DWF in The Netherlands. In 1953 started in The Netherlands a long term clinical trial on caries reduction through water fluoridation. It was concluded in 1960 that fluoridation of drinking water (DWF) by 1 till 1.2 ppm would help reducing dental caries by 6o percent. Therefore it was implemented on a national scale. In 1973 4 million people out of a population of 13 million consumed fluoridated water. Since 1976 DWF is not possible any more.

Material and Methods:

The different publications of historical actors, i.e. the opponents and the advocates of DWF, in the process of the failed introduction of DWF in the Netherlands were analyzed. There are reports of The Dutch Health Council (1960, 1970, 1973), there is an extensive collection of articles, 0 there are several (personal) archives. Fourthly and there are eleven oral history interviews available.

Results:

The debate over the water fluoridation took place in several important decades of the twentieth century, especially in the roaring sixties and anti-authoritarian seventies. The DWF was discussed from 1945 till 1990 in politics, in the public sphere, in the government and in court. The Netherlands was modernizing during this period and its citizens became more individualized. The outcome of the debate will be explained in relation to the developments in society.

Conclusions:

The discussion over fluoride did not stop after the House of Commons had withdrawn the law in 1976 which should legalize the DWF. Fluoride applications, fluoride tables and fluoridated toothpaste became important alternatives to protect the teeth instead of the water fluoridation. Although the collective prevention of water fluoridation eventually failed to sustain after 1976 the individual consumption of fluoride did grow substantially after 1976.