Background Over 80% of school-aged children in some developed nations, including the United Kingdom, suffer from dental caries (DC), which causes discomfort, pain, and reduced school attendance for children.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of parents with children aged 4–11 in a ward of the Gateshead Borough regarding milk fluoridation as a caries preventive measure.

Methods A quantitative cross-sectional research method was adopted for this study, study participants (parents having children aged 4–11 years that reside in Gateshead) were conveniently recruited using an online validated questionnaire prepared and pooled using Qualtrics. The questionnaire examined the general knowledge and attitude the respondents had in addition to the oral habits of the wards using 27 closed-ended questions which were analyzed using descriptive, univariate, and multivariate regression.

Results Data analysed (20.9% response rate) revealed poor knowledge and general negativity towards milk fluoridation in Gateshead. A significant relationship was observed between the level of education and monthly income; secondary level education increased the likelihood (p= 0.048) seven times (B= 7.000) of the respondents having adequate knowledge of fluoridation with reference to the post-tertiary educational level, nonetheless, having none, primary, and tertiary education had no prediction relationship.

Conclusion Undoubtedly, there remains limited information on general knowledge about milk fluoridation in Gateshead. It is therefore recommended that educational interventions and socioeconomic development be implemented before any community-level milk fluoridation program in Gateshead.