Artificial Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies in New Zealand: 'Magic Bullet, 'Rat Poison, or Communist Plot?

Abstract

Dental caries has been and continues to be a major and costly public health problem throughout much of the world. Artificial fluoridation of the public water supply has been regarded globally by many public health officials as a major revolutionary advance in the fight against tooth decay. However, to the doubters, the practice of fluoridation is perhaps the most contentious of public health measures. This paper examines the concerns of the various proand antifluoridation lobby groups involved in the fluoridation debate in New Zealand in the early 1950s.