The Impact of Early Exposure to Fluoride on Social and Emotional Development in Australian Children

Abstract

Tooth decay is a prevalent issue among Australian children. Empirical evidence suggests fluoride plays a preventative role against tooth decay, and water fluoridation has thus become a common practice in several countries. Recently, studies have raised questions about the impact of fluoride on child brain development. Many have focussed on cognition, with few considering emotional or social factors, and have often lacked representative populations, sound fluoride measures and confounder controls. This study aimed to fill gaps in the literature regarding fluoride exposure and socioemotional development, contributing high quality research with a national Australian sample. Participants were recruited from a previous national study on child oral health (N = 943) and completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, containing questions about social and emotional functioning. A series of regression analyses indicated no significant relationship between social and emotional wellbeing and lifetime exposure to fluoridated water. The minimal exposure group did not predict significantly more or less variance in SDQ scores than the partial (p = .898) or full (p = .996) exposure groups. We can therefore retain the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between fluoride exposure and child socioemotional functioning. Future studies should conduct non-inferiority testing to confirm these conclusions.