The use of fluoridated milk for the prevention of dental decay was first demonstrated in the 1950s. Further studies in the 1960s also showed it to be effective. Encouraged by the consistent findings of this early research, in 1971 Dr Edgar Borrow established The Borrow Foundation (formerly the Borrow Dental Milk Foundation) with the aim of promoting the use of milk as a vehicle for fluoride for the benefit of children’s oral health. He believed that this could provide an alternative means of fluoride supplementation and would be particularly appropriate in those areas where the fluoridation of water or salt was not viable.

During the early years the Foundation’s resources were primarily used to address the technical aspects of milk fluoridation and to support clinical studies which further demonstrated its efficacy. The results created greater awareness and wider interest in the use of fluoridated milk as a dental public health measure.

By the mid 1980s the Foundation’s priority had become the development of schemes designed to demonstrate the viability and feasibility of using fluoridated milk as a dental health measure. Close links were established with the World Health Organization, and through this collaboration the first community based fluoridation scheme was implemented in 1988, in Bulgaria. It was most fitting that this major breakthrough was achieved during Dr Borrow’s lifetime. He died in 1990, and in accordance with his wishes, the Trustees, colleagues and associates of the Foundation have continued to pursue his aims.

The Foundation’s Trustees are:
Professor Jolán Bánóczy  Nigel Borrow  John Roberts
Professor Andrew Rugg-Gunn  Dr Nigel Thomas