title: New Zealand dentists' views on community water fluoridation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether New Zealand general dental practitioners support community water fluoridation (CWF), and to gauge their opinions on its possible systemic side-effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  An online survey was conducted in 2010, involving the 1174 general dental practitioners who had email addresses on the Dental Register and were contactable in New Zealand. A total of 465 dentists (39.6%) participated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most practitioners (93.5%) reported supporting community water fluoridation; the other 6.5% either were unsure or did not support it. Higher proportions of more recent graduates supported CWF. Some 85.6% of practitioners thought that drinking fluoridated water was a harmless way to prevent dental caries, but 6.2% felt that fluoridated water may cause other health problems. There were no systematic differences by sociodemographic and practice characteristics, except that a higher proportion of males and more experienced practitioners reported being confident in discussing CWF-related issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most New Zealand dental practitioners support community water fluoridation, although a very small proportion believe that it is harmful and/or does not prevent caries.
authors.affiliation: Whangarei Hospital, Wangarei.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Thomson
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005457:Fluoridation / Q000523:psychology*; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D012449:Safety