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

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Authors
Westwood, Kirsten
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Degree
Master of Health Science
Grantor
Eastern Institute of Technology
Date
2016
Supervisors
Harvey, Clare
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
fluoride
water fluoridation
debate
dental decay
oral health
public health
discourse analysis
Citation
Westwood, K. (2016). Water fluoridation: A contest of control; An analysis of social discourses in the New Zealand fluoride debate (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Science). Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand.
Abstract
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.
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