Working towards better oral health for generations to come.
Based on a foundation principle to invest in solutions that have transformative potential and universal benefits, Clare is proudly backing Associate Professor Tim Chambers from the University of Canterbury and his team on their Community Water Fluoride (CWF) Research project.
The project attempts to counter the current oral health disparities amongst young New Zealanders, with the aim of quantifying if dental caries in the community could be due to poor compliance from CWF over the past decade, and how to change the pathway moving forward.
Dental decay is largely a preventable condition, and CWF is a population-level public health intervention that improves oral health and can reduce health inequities.
The study will analyse fluoride exposure from drinking water using data from all 67 councils from 2008-2021, with a key outcome being a ‘Fluoridation Index’ to provide communities and iwi with the tools to hold the Crown (Central and local Government) to account over any inequities in access to and performance of community water fluoridation across the motu.