I agree with Jennifer Godshall Johnson’s letter ‘Question the need for added fluoride’ on 26 September.

Tooth decay is caused by high sugar levels in manufactured food and drink but governments do little to get them to reduce the amount.

Many healthy-sounding breakfast cereals are about a quarter sugar.

Fluoridation isn’t the answer as tooth decay has fallen in Europe whether or not the country is fluoridated.

The biggest fall in tooth decay is in Denmark, Finland, Holland and Sweden, which are not fluoridated.

The fluoride chemical, which is added to tap water is fluorosilicic acid industrial waste from phosphate fertiliser factory chimney scrubbers. It’s more poisonous than lead and only slightly less so than arsenic.

It is not pharmaceutical grade – unlike the fluoride added to toothpaste – and is contaminated with arsenic, mercury and lead, etc.

The American Dental Association advised that baby milk powder should not be made up using artificially fluoridated water and that fluoride shouldn’t be given to a child under a year old.

They advised parents to buy bottled water with no/low fluoride for making babies’ feeds but this is costly and causes plastic waste.

The World Health Organisation stated that no fluoridation schemes should be begun until total fluoride intakes are measured. This was never done.

Studies have shown increased hip fractures and thyroid problems in fluoridated areas.

Medication should be prescribed individually and targeted, not given to whole communities with no control over the dose received.

Ann Wills, Middlesex