Water fluoridation: A contest of control; An analysis of social discourses in the New Zealand fluoride debate

Community water fluoridation involves the addition of an artificial fluoride compound to public drinking water supplies. This is done under the scientific principle that fluoride, ingested in small amounts, results in significant improvement in the incidence of tooth decay. Dental health remains a major issue for much of the New Zealand population. Dental decay remains the most prevalent chronic (and irreversible) disease worldwide, and disparities still exist in oral health status. Notwithstanding this, benefit and harm arguments have been hotly debated since its original introduction in the USA in the 1950s. Critical theorists have questioned the assumption on which medical ‘experts’ self-ruling and enormously powerful position in society is based. The ‘age of the internet’ has enabled unforeseen access to information allowing ‘non-experts’ to become increasingly more knowledgeable and articulate about health issues. In a shift from traditional medical models of health, everyday people are seeking to regain control and have a say in the types of intervention that are administered and the general care they receive. A critical discourse analysis of the fluoride debate offers the potential to discover the role and scope of language and power relationships that science, policy, law, ethics and community viewpoints have to play in determining the reasons for ongoing debate. The implications of these discourses for policy makers and dental care agencies are also considered. Findings are that significant societal changes since the inception of fluoridation 60 years ago have shaped a growing wave of uncertainty. Medical science; once the undisputed truth can no longer assume to have the complete trust of the general public in the modern world.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Westwood, Kirsten

• New Zealand
• fluoride
• water fluoridation
• debate
• dental decay
• oral health
• public health
• discourse analysis

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6339

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6339