THE Government's chief medical officer has called for more fluoridation of water supplies on Teesside and in south-west Durham.

Sir Liam Donaldson believes it would dramatically reduce the high levels of tooth decay among children in areas where fluoride is not included.

He cited the two areas as having some of the highest levels of child tooth decay in the North-East.

Sir Liam's comments were contained in his annual report which was published on Wednesday.

In it he highlights a specific issue that he believes each of the nine public health regions needs to act on or investigate.

Some parts of the North-East have levels of dental decay more than three times worse than others.

The research showed a wide range of dental health among five-year-olds.

The number of decayed, missing and filled teeth varies from 0.86 per child in Hartlepool to 2.82 per child in South West Durham.

The six areas with fluoridated water out of the 13 studied had low levels of decay - even though some had high levels of deprivation.

"Local studies have shown that fluoridation can nullify the effects of deprivation," said Sir Liam.

"On Teesside, for example, the most deprived wards in fluoridated Hartlepool still have less dental decay than the least deprived wards of non-fluoridated Middlesbrough.

"Extending the provision of fluoridated water remains a priority in tackling inequality."

Some of the earliest work identifying the benefits of fluoride involved North and South Shields.

South Shields originally drew its water from naturally fluoridated wells and had much lower rates of decay.

But the positions reversed when South Shields received a non-fluoridated supply and most of North Shields received fluoridated water.

The following figures show the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth in five-year-olds by area.

Those with all or part fluoridation recorded: Hartlepool 0.86; North Tyneside 1.17; Gateshead 1.31; North West Durham 1.54; Newcastle 1.60; Northumberland 1.81.

Among the areas with fluoridation Durham bucked the trend at 1.67 but others recorded: Sunderland 2.05; South Tyneside 2.05; Darlington 2.16; South Tees 2.29; North Tees 2.53; South West Durham 2.82

The national average in England is 1.47