Research Team:
Matthew Hobbs (SoH – UoC)
Lukáš Marek (GRI GeoHealth Lab – UoC)
Mario Puente Sierra (GRI GeoHealth Lab – UoC)
Tim Chambers (Ngāi Tahu Research Centre – UoC)
Funding
Ministry of Health Oral Health Research Fund 2022
Duration of Project
2022-2023 (1.5 years)
Project Summary
Community water fluoridation (CWF) is a proven way to prevent tooth decay. The decision to fluoridate in New Zealand has been left to the discretion of drinking-water suppliers such as local authorities, leading to differences between communities. A recent law change now allows for a nationally consistent approach. However, there’s no nationwide spatial dataset of water distribution zones (WDZ) and, therefore, fluoride levels in drinking water can’t be mapped or spatially studied.
Our aims were to create this dataset, delineate fluoride levels in every supply, assess compliance with recommended fluoride levels, and see if there are inequities in both fluoridation access and compliance based on ethnicity and deprivation. While doing so, we also examined inequities in the quality of geospatial data of public drinking WDZ across all territorial authorities in New Zealand. This data will help future studies to associate epidemiologic outcomes to public water, improve oral health policies, and ensure water suppliers provide the right fluoride levels for good oral health.
Outputs
Puente-Sierra, M., Chambers, T., Marek, L., Broadbent, J.M., O’Brien, B. and Hobbs, M. (2023). The development and validation of a nationwide dataset of water distribution zones in Aotearoa New Zealand: A cross-sectional geospatial study. Data in Brief 49, 109349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109349. (Journal Article)
