A SENIOR Health Ministry official says there needs to be greater public awareness about the consequences of drinking water containing high concentrations of fluoride.

The deputy director of the Department of Health Planning, Dr Khin Maung Lwin, said small amounts of fluoride in drinking water were useful for preventing tooth decay.

However, the long-term consumption of excessive concentrations of fluoride could cause dental fluorosis, an unsightly staining of teeth enamel, or another form of the condition that leads to calcification of ligaments.

Dr Khin Maung Lwin said fluoride was added to drinking water in some countries to prevent tooth decay but in some parts of Myanmar it occurred in high concentrations in the soil.

The World Health Organisation recommends that the fluoride content of drinking water should not exceed 1.5 milligrams a litre.

Those exposed to levels above the WHO recommendation were at risk of fluorosis.

A survey of 10 states and divisions conducted in 2000 by the Water Resource and Utilisation Department and the UN Children’s Fund found high concentrations of fluoride in drinking water in Bago, Mandalay and Sagaing divisions.

The survey also included Ayeyarwaddy, Magwe and Yangon divisions and Chin, Kayah, Rakhine states and southern Shan State.

Dr Ko Ko Maw, from the Health Department’s oral health unit, said that children aged under eight are at higher risk of dental fluorosis than adults.

Dr Ko Ko Maw said the department was planning to conduct a national survey to identify those with dental fluorosis and to provide alternative drinking water sources.

“It is impossible to achieve effective fluoride-based caries prevention without some degree of dental fluorosis so public health officials must seek ways to maximise dental caries reduction while minimising dental fluorosis,” Dr Ko Ko Maw said.