The fluoridation of drinking water is a contentious issue, supporters saying it has well-established benefits in the fight against tooth decay and offers a consistent approach to oral healthcare.
Critics say there is mounting evidence fluoridated drinking water is not safe or effective.
In November 2021, legislation was passed that moved the decision to add fluoride to drinking water supplies from councils into the hands of the government’s director-general of health.
Last July, then director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield, in his last week in the role, sent a letter to 14 councils around the country directing them to start fluoridation and advised another 27 the government was "actively considering" issuing a directive to fluoridate their water supplies.
Councils who refuse face a fine of $200,000, plus $10,000 a day for every day they do not comply.
During the past week, anti-fluoride group Fluoride Free NZ has held public meetings throughout Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes Districts.
Seventeen people supported speakers Mary Byrne and Dr Neil Waddell.
Ms Byrne told a meeting of the council in Alexandra yesterday the group was hoping to inform people about neurotoxicity caused by fluoridation.
Dr Waddell, a retired professor of dental materials from the Faculty of Dentistry at University of Otago, told councillors the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021, which came into effect in December 2021, was a "form of medical and dental treatment" that was "forced on the population" and went against informed consent.
Countering the group’s views was Emeritus Prof Peter Herbison, formerly of the department of preventive and social medicine at the University of Otago.
The vast majority of opinion was fluoride was "safe and beneficial", Prof Herbison said.
"Throughout the world there have been many many groups of experts who have looked at fluoridation ... all these groups unanimously agree that fluoridation at the recommended dose is not harmful to people and is beneficial to teeth — something like a 23% reduction in decay."
The dose used was important, he said.
"There is no question if you have fluoride or whatever in a huge dose that it is not good for you.
"As I know from all the pills that I had to take this morning, all of those are harmful to you if you take too much and the best example of that is vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential to life, but if you have too much of it, it will kill you — which is why you never eat polar bear livers."
