Controversy over plans to put fluoride in drinking water.

(From Derby Evening Telegraph)

Fluoride in drinking water is a subject which conjures up two very different pictures of the state of people's health.

For many dentists, the image is of smiling children with rows of healthy white teeth, free of tooth decay.

But, for some worried parents, it provokes nightmarish thoughts of a population forced to drink water that they fear could cause allergies, lower children's IQ and lead to hip fractures, infertility and cancer.

So the public will be keeping a watchful eye on East Midlands health bosses as they consider whether fluoridation would be good value for money and practically and technically possible.

According to Andrew Dale, secretary of the Local …