Children up and down the country will be delighting at the latest public health advice from ministers: throw away your toothbrush.

Drinking a glass of fluoridated water is now the "preferred method" of preventing tooth decay, according to the public health minister, and is cheaper and easier than brushing.

Melanie Johnson wrote to MPs last week informing them that brushing requires "ongoing positive personal action by the individual". But people who drink fluoridated water can protect their teeth "without needing to take any personal action".

Ms Johnson's letter, designed to persuade MPs not to block her proposals to make it easier to add fluoride to the public water supply, says "there are important reasons to consider water fluoridation as the preferred method of preventing tooth decay on a population basis".

She goes on to compare brushing with drinking fluoridated water, and concludes that the latter brings more health benefits...