Fluoridation: A Review of Social Research

Frazier, P. Jean

doi:10.1111/j.1752-7325.1980.tb01872.x

Cited by 28 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 78 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The results of an early review of social research in water fluoridation indicated that dentists appeared to have influenced the outcome of ballot measures in smaller communities. 33 More recently, dentists’ promotion of water fluoridation was successfully carried out as part of a joint campaign effort with the public health department and the media in New South Wales, Australia; in that effort, one prominent local dentist engaged in grassroots efforts to help ensure the successful passage of a municipal water fluoridation plebiscite. 11 Such studies highlight the fact that dentists can and do play important roles during political campaigns by using their good reputations in the community and their ability to organize and lead campaign efforts to educate and persuade the public to vote in favor of water fluoridation.…”

Section: Dentists’ Effectiveness In Promoting Water Fluoridationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dentist's role in promoting community water fluoridation

Melbye¹,

Armfield²

2013

The Journal of the American Dental Association

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and Overview Community water fluoridation is an important public health intervention that reduces oral health disparities and increases the health of the population. Promotion of its safety and effectiveness is critical to maintaining its widespread acceptance and ensuring its continued use. Dentists are a potentially important source of knowledge regarding the oral health benefits and safety of water fluoridation. However, few dentists regularly discuss fluorides, and water fluoridation in particular, with patients. The authors aim to describe and discuss the role and importance of dentists’ promotion of public water fluoridation, barriers to dentists’ involvement and some approaches that might influence dentists to promote water fluoridation more actively. Conclusions and Practice Implications Ongoing promotion of fluoridation by dentists is a key factor in ensuring sustained municipal water fluoridation. However, current undergraduate dental curricula do not adequately prepare dentists for this role, and continuing dental education may be insufficient to change clinical practice. Although smoking-cessation literature can shed some light on how to proceed, changing dentists’ practice behavior remains a largely unstudied topic. Dental associations are a key resource for dentists, providing information that can assist them in becoming advocates for water fluoridation.

show abstract

Section: Dentists’ Effectiveness In Promoting Water Fluoridationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dentist's role in promoting community water fluoridation

Melbye¹,

Armfield²

2013

The Journal of the American Dental Association

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite the role frequently played by the general public in determining the introduction or cessation of water fluoridation, the reasons why individuals support or oppose water fluoridation remain poorly understood. While there was a flurry of related social research in the 1960s and the 1970s (5), few attempts to empirically address this inadequacy have subsequently appeared. Indeed, recent investigations either have restricted analyses to socioeconomic and sociodemographic correlates of water fluoridation stance or have investigated relatively straightforward beliefs regarding benefits or harm (6‐12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk perception and water fluoridation support and opposition in Australia

Armfield

Akers

2010

Journal of Public Health Dentistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: A considerable body of evidence confirms that water fluoridation effectively reduces the community incidence of dental caries with minimal side effects. However, proposals to introduce this widely endorsed public-health measure are often perceived as controversial, and public opinion frequently plays a role in the outcome. Despite this, the public's perception of risk associated with water fluoridation has not been well researched and remains poorly understood. Our objectives were to determine whether risk perceptions reflecting various "outrage" factors are associated with water fluoridation support and opposition. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of a national sample of 517 Australian adults (response rate = 34.7 percent) aged 18-92 years.Results: Approximately 70.5 percent of respondents supported water fluoridation, with 15.1 percent opposed and 14.3 percent neutral. Sixteen of the 20 assessed outrage factors were significantly associated with water fluoridation stance in the predicted direction, with greater outrage being related to increased water fluoridation opposition. An overall outrage index computed from the 16 significant outrage factors accounted for a statistically significant 58 percent of the variance in water fluoridation stance beyond the effects of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and age and presence of children. Conclusion: Outrage factors are important aspects of the public's perception of risk in relation to water fluoridation. Given that water fluoridation appears to be a lowrisk, high-outrage controversy, efforts to mitigate the level of public outrage, rather than continuing to deny possible hazards, may offer a worthwhile strategy in gaining public acceptance for the extension of water fluoridation.

show abstract

“…This study found that although nearly three‐fourths of respondents perceived CWF as providing some or great benefit, only about half could identify its correct purpose, a proportion at the low end of the range found (44‐76 percent) during the 1950s to 1970s . We believe this is the first study of perceptions of CWF that included CWF knowledge and perceived safety of childhood vaccines in a multivariate analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Perceived safety and benefit of community water fluoridation: 2009 HealthStyles survey

Mork

Griffin

2015

J Public Health Dent

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives To describe perceived benefits and safety of community water fluoridation (CWF) and investigate factors associated with those perceptions of CWF among respondents to a proprietary survey in the United States. Methods We obtained data from the 2009 HealthStyles survey, a convenience sample of 4,556 respondents. Pearson's chi-squared and logistic regression were used to determine the associations between certain socio-demographic factors and perceptions regarding the safety and health benefits of CWF. Results The majority of respondents (55.3 percent) strongly agreed/agreed that CWF was safe, while 31.5 percent were neutral, and 13.2 percent disagreed/strongly disagreed. Twenty-seven percent of respondents reported CWF had no health benefit, 57.3 percent reported some benefit, and 15.5 percent reported great benefit. Perceived CWF safety and benefit in the bivariate analyses were associated with gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, income, sealant knowledge, CWF knowledge, past year dental utilization, and perceived vaccine safety. Respondents with knowledge of CWF (47.9 percent) were more likely to agree that it was safe (69.8 percent) than those who reported no knowledge (41.3 percent). Among respondents who said childhood vaccines were not safe (4.0 percent), almost half disagreed that CWF was safe. Logistic regression results indicated that perceived CWF safety and benefits increased with CWF knowledge, perceived vaccine safety, and income. Conclusions Although only a minority of the US population perceived CWF as unsafe or providing no benefit to health, perceptions regarding CWF varied by knowledge of CWF and socio-demographic factors. Oral health promotion activities should consider these differing perceptions of CWF among groups to tailor oral health messaging appropriately.

show abstract

Fluoridation: A Review of Social Research

Cited by 28 publications

References 78 publications

The dentist's role in promoting community water fluoridation

The dentist's role in promoting community water fluoridation

Risk perception and water fluoridation support and opposition in Australia

Perceived safety and benefit of community water fluoridation: 2009 HealthStyles survey

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About