To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations his Department has received on the long-term health effects of adding fluoride to drinking water; and if he will make a statement. (188254)

[holding answer 25 February 2008]: Fluoride offers the best prospect for reducing inequalities in oral health. The benefits to oral health from the fluoridation of water have been welcomed, but we have received representations from people concerned that there may be harmful side effects. The Department monitors relevant research and also commissions its own research and the Department is pleased to say there is no evidence of any risk to people's general health from the fluoridation of water at the 1 part per million level used in fluoridation schemes in the United Kingdom.