The FDI World Dental Federation says Taiwan should consider adding fluoride to table salt as it would help prevent children’s dental decay.
FDI President Tin Chun Wong is in Taiwan for a four-day visit. She said fluoride has been added to table salt in Europe and Latin America for years.
Wong is the first FDI president of Chinese descent. She said Hong Kong, her home town, has added fluoride to drinking water since the 1960s and the practice has effectively lowered the rate of tooth decay in children.
“The second choice is to put fluoride in the salt," said Wong. "We do not eat a lot of salt a day, so the amount is carefully calibrated to an individual’s daily intake. Salt containing fluoride will go into the blood streams and will be particularly powerful and important in the prevention of dental decay and also in strengthening the dental enamel, the human dental enamel in resisting dental decay.”
According to Taiwan’s dental science association, the average global rate of tooth decay for children under 12 is 1.67. In other words, every child has 1.67 decayed teeth. However, the average rate for Taiwanese children was 2.58 in 2006, far above the global average. That’s despite the fact that the figure dropped slightly to 2.50 in 2012.
Taiwan’s health authorities said they will consider Wong’s suggestion.