Either Mr Parfitt (Letters, July 25) has been living on another planet or his medication is overdue.

Fluoride at or near the level of one part per million occurs naturally in the water of parts of the UK and many areas of the world.

Added to the drinking water of many urban populations, for instance, the North Midlands but especially in the USA, fluoride has, over the past 50 years, safely saved many from the ravages of dental decay.

Hysterical comments such as those of Mr Parfitt have been refuted in courts of law and by scientific analysis - most recently in a review of evidence by this government.

It is most unlikely water fluoridation would be proposed for Brighton or Sussex but the government might consider its use in areas of acute social deprivation as one method of reducing severe health inequalities.

-Tony Fallowfield, dental surgeon, Brighton