title: Community water fluoridation: attitudes and opinions from the New Zealand Oral Health Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the responses of adult participants in the 2009 New Zealand Oral Health Survey (NZOHS) to questions about community water fluoridation (CWF).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used quantitative data from the NZOHS. All adult participants aged 18 years and over in the nationally representative NZOHS sample were included in the study (n=3475). Univariate analysis and multinominal logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 57.7% of respondents thought that there were dental benefits to adding fluoride to drinking water and 31.7% responded that they did not know. More than 45% of respondents did not know whether there were health risks from adding fluoride to drinking water. Overall, 42.0% of respondents were strongly or somewhat in favour of CWF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  People in the Māori, Pacific and Asian ethnic groups, from the two most deprived quintiles, with no education after high school and who brushed their teeth less than twice a day expressed significantly greater uncertainty about CWF than other population groups. This study suggests further research is required to gain a greater understanding of health literacy about CWF and the cultural appropriateness of CWF in NZ.
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Services, Hawke's Bay District Health Board, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Robin A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Whyman
authors.affiliation: Dental Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Erin K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Mahoney
authors.affiliation: Dental Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Torunn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Børsting
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D005457:Fluoridation; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D011639:Public Opinion; D011640:Public Policy; D014881:Water Supply
keywords: New Zealand; attitudes; community water fluoridation; public opinion