Salt fluoridation in France since 1986

In 1985, the production and use of fluoridated salt was authorized in France. Domestic salt both with added fluoride (at 250 ppm) and without fluoride has been on the market since 1986. It was recommended to avoid the consumption of fluoridated salt if the local drinking water contained more than 0.5 milligrams of fluoride per litre. The legislation has never been modified since, except for a few developments such as the permission given to school canteens in 1993 to use fluoridated salt, provided canteen managers made sure that the drinking water contained no more than 0.5 milligrams of fluoride per litre. Epidemiological surveys about fluoridated salt in France are few, but they point in the same direction: decrease of DMFT and DMFS values, evident for the period 1986-1993 but minimal from 1993 to 1998. In 1999 and 2002, epidemiological comparative surveys were carried out in Montpellier (France) and Heidelberg (Germany) among 12-year-old schoolchildren. A decrease in caries prevalence was found in both towns, particulary in Heidelberg. On the other hand, the two cities showed some slight differences resulting from public health policy, from individual preventive habits, and from an earlier introduction of fluoridated salt in France.