I AM very disappointed that Dr Andrew Mortimore should yet again come out in favour of water fluoridation (Letters, April 26).

How can he possibly say that there are significant benefits to oral health' when this is not borne out by the Government's own review (York Review 2000)?

This review said that the evidence of benefit was of poor quality and their best estimate was a small improvement of around 15 per cent. Why is non-fluoridated Hampshire one of the best areas for oral health in the country, and even Southampton is better than most other cities, contrary to the scare-mongering?

I wonder if he has studied the evidence or is he just repeating the one-sided pro-fluoridation science?

I cannot see how someone who has really studied the full effects of fluoride on the body can in good faith recommend water fluoridation.

He also says that dental fluorosis is not a significant issue. Again the York Review said to the contrary that around 48 per cent of children in fluoridated areas have evidence of dental fluorosis (almost half!) and around one in eight has disfiguring fluorosis.

Dental fluorosis is expensive to treat, often requiring repeated private treatments. Even more worryingly it is a symptom of systemic poisoning of the body by fluoride.

Then there is the shocking evidence of fluoride accumulating in the body over the years leading to serious, sometimes life threatening, medical conditions such as brittle bones, arthritic-like symptoms, brain problems and even cancers. How can a doctor ignore the effects of fluoride on the whole body?

As Dr Peter Mansfield of the York Review said: "No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay'. It is a preposterous notion."

It is also about time that doctors, especially those in senior positions in the NHS, stuck to medical ethics and stopped trying to force mass medication via our water supply onto people in Southampton and Hampshire.

Fluoride is an effective poison for small animals, and it is a highly reactive and nasty chemical in the human body, especially when fed to us over long periods of time or to vulnerable people, such as children.

For our health's sake, stop the fluoridation proposals!

JOHN SPOTTISWOODE, chairman, Hampshire Against Fluoridation and Southampton resident.