A global dental expert yesterday urged the government to allow fluoride to be added to edible salt to reduce tooth decay among Taiwanese children.
Wong Ting Chun (黃殿春), a veteran Hong Kong dentist and the first Asian president of the Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) World Dental Association, made the call at a press conference in Taipei on the second day of her four-day visit to Taiwan.
“It is quite urgent not only for Taiwan, but also for its surrounding countries, that the government policy is in line [with that of the FDI] to solve the problem of oral health diseases throughout life. There are two very important areas in controlling oral and dental diseases: prevention and collaborative practice of healthcare workers,” Wong said.
Wong said nearly 98 percent of dental and oral diseases can be prevented, but once diseases have occurred and progressed, dental treatment is the fourth-most expensive treatment in the world.
She said the cheapest method of prevention is through fluoridation of water, as it allows all citizens of a country to benefit.
“However, for various reasons, your country has resisted that. I can understand there are sometimes difficulties in putting fluoride or any other particular additives to drinking water, but fluoride remains the most powerful method of reducing dental decay ... and cannot be replaced by oral health education” Wong said.
In some countries such as Germany, France, and Belgium, the second choice is to put fluoride in the salt used for cooking or on the table, Wong said.
Once consumed, salt goes into the bloodstream and helps people resist tooth decay by strengthening their dental enamel, she said.
Citing examples, Wong said the Hong Kong government’s decision to put fluoride in the water in 1960 has helped reduce the decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) index among children born afterwards from eight teeth to 0.25.
Figures provided by the Health Promotion Administration showed that the prevalence of dental caries among Taiwanese children aged between five and six was about 79.32 percent in 2011 — far higher than the 50 percent goal set by the WHO.
Moreover, while the DMFT index among Taiwanese kids aged 12 has dropped by 2.58 teeth in 2006 to 2.5 in 2012, the country still has a long way to go to reach the global average of 1.67 teeth, statistics showed.
Association for Dental Sciences of the Republic of China (ADS-ROC) president Hsu Ming-lun (許明倫) said that in Switzerland, consumers can freely choose between fluoridated and non-fluoridated salt at supermarkets, with nearly 70 percent opting for the former.
“Research has also shown that long-term consumption of fluoridated salt or water can help reduce root caries prevalence among elderly people by about 30 percent,” Hsu said.
Chang Yung-min (張雍敏), deputy director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Department of Mental and Oral Health, said the government has yet to list fluoride as a food additive, but several local salt manufacturers have expressed an interest in applying for a permit to produce fluoridated salt.
“Minister [of Health and Welfare] Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) has instructed us to approve these applications as soon as possible. Such products are expected to be available to consumers next year,” Chang said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS