asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, further to the reply of 18 March, Official Report, column 160, if he will estimate the numbers for Scotland of (a) children who are of an age where the health of their teeth may benefit from fluoridated water supplies living in areas where that water is fluoridated and (b) the number of persons over 16 years of age whose teeth cannot benefit.

Information on the number of children living in areas where the water is fluoridated is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Expert dental opinion is that the benefit of fluoride to the teeth of children and adults is continuous.