Fluoridation Fails Australia

Despite a 90% fluoridation rate,  "The distance between ruined poor teeth and healthy, wealthy teeth is growing."

 A recent book memorialising the victims of the UK system includes details of a 57-year-old man found dead in his flat. His relatives discovered the lid of a shoebox in his cupboard holding two large molars and a pair of pliers.

Teeth are one of the most visible markers of poverty: structural circumstances that are individually borne.

In an essay for Aeon, US journalist Sarah Smarsh calls them “poor teeth”. She writes:

Often, bad teeth are blamed solely on the habits and choices of their owners, and for the poor therein lies an undue shaming […] Poor teeth […] beget not just shame but more poorness: people with bad teeth have a harder time getting jobs and other opportunities.

In the age of “whitened, straightened, veneered smiles”, the distance between ruined poor teeth and healthy, wealthy teeth is growing.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-07/teeth-reveal-growing-gap-rich-poor/106314470