A proposal to introduce fluoridated milk, which contains fluoride to help reduce the risk of tooth decay, is set to be decided by the council’s executive.
The milk, which is recommended by the World Health Organisation, is the latest in Blackpool Council’s plans to tackle poor dental hygiene amongst children in the town.
The proposal comes as figures show that almost half of twelve year olds in the town have at least one decayed, missing or filled tooth – much higher than the national average of 33 per cent.
Around 400 children in Blackpool are also admitted to hospital every year to have teeth extracted under general anaesthetic, at a cost to the NHS of thousands of pounds.
The announcement comes as a study carried out in Blackpool last year reveals that children in the town have lower than normal levels of fluoride in their bodies.
The study examined pre-school children and monitored the levels of fluoride currently in their system.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral which can be added to food and water and contributes to maintain tooth mineralisation. The mineral is commonplace in popular toothpastes and in some areas of the country water supplies have naturally occurring fluoride, or have fluoride added by the water suppliers; however that does not happen in Blackpool.
While fluoridating the water network is unfeasible in Blackpool, introducing the fluoridated milk into children’s breakfast routines can be carried out at no extra cost to the taxpayer, thanks to Blackpool Council’s flagship free breakfast scheme.
The scheme currently means all primary school children in the town receive a healthy breakfast at school every day and 8,400 pupils currently receive milk on a daily basis. Fluoridated milk can be introduced without a financial burden by changing the milk that is ordered.
Graham Cain, cabinet secretary for Blackpool Council, said: “Unfortunately the state of Blackpool’s dental health is very poor.
“Through a number of methods such as education in schools and children’s centres, as well as giving away toothbrushes and toothpaste to children, we have managed to raise awareness of the importance of oral hygiene amongst Blackpool families.
“However, where some parts of the country can benefit from fluoride naturally appearing in their daily drinking water, in Blackpool we cannot.
“What we do have is a method through the free breakfast programme that allows us to reach all primary school children as they are growing up and make the fluoride milk available to them there.
“The scheme will be available to all primary school children but parents will have the option to opt out if they wish.
“This is a bold and positive step and one that I think will benefit our children in the long run.”
If approved, a group will be formed combining Blackpool Council, Public Health England, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and oral health charity the Borrow Foundation to oversee the application and implementation of the scheme.