Today's most prevalent and critical dental services focus on treating and preventing cavities. Dental caries or cavities, when untreated, can cause tooth damage and lifelong dental concerns. Regardless of the efforts put into combating caries, they are still common. Water fluoridation has made significant strides in fighting cavities and decay and strengthening the enamel. However, despite its ability to enhance dental care, there is a lot of buzz around fluoride and its efficacy in fighting decay. Considering the facts and fiction about fluoride for dental care, you should differentiate the misconceptions and facts surrounding it to ensure everything is clear.
Fluoride Overview
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in foods, soil, water, and plants. Sometimes, it is present in dietary supplements. Experts have touted the mineral as highly effective in inhibiting the start and advancement of tooth decay and invigorating the formation of new bone. It achieves this because it can strengthen the enamel and prevent the breeding and accumulation of toxic bacteria in the mouth.
Most people consume fluoride through foods and drinks prepared with fluoridated water, toothpaste, and other oral care products containing the mineral, like mouthwash.
Whenever you consume the mineral from these sources, it remineralizes the weakened tooth enamel and restores its natural color. After remineralization, your teeth become stronger and more resistant to harmful acids that cause most dental problems.
Fact: Fluoride Strengthens Your Tooth Enamel
The external surface of your tooth is the enamel. The coating is the most complex body substance that protects against toxic bacteria and acids in the mouth when food ferments. Unfortunately, the tooth surface is the only part that does not repair itself. Once toxic bacteria produce acids that eat away or demineralize the enamel, surgery is the only way to fix it. Also, the acids weaken the tooth enamel and expose you to oral problems like decay, which, when left untreated, results in severe pain and tooth loss. In children, these oral problems can hinder growth, performance in school, and quality of life. It is factual that fluoride helps remineralize the enamel by drawing calcium and ions to the tooth, patching cracks, or strengthening the walls of a weakened tooth. Even though it has no other benefits to the body, it is a fact that it remineralizes the teeth, giving you stronger enamel.
Besides, when teeth undergo demineralization, the early stages of tooth decay, fluoride draws in phosphate ions to support the enamel and increase its resistance to harmful acids, halting tooth decay.
Myth: Fluoride is Harmful to Your Health
There is a common misconception that fluoride is harmful and that people should avoid it—however, the facts about the mineral show that it is beneficial, particularly for teeth. Many health organizations, like the Centers for Disease Control, have conducted scientific studies confirming that fluoride is safe and effective in preventing decay and keeping the surface of teeth strong when used in regulated amounts.
The American Dental Association asserts that fluoride is safe and poses no health risk when used in systematic dental procedures. While controlled use of the mineral is safe, excessive use can cause fluoride poisoning or fluorosis.
You have also heard people claim that fluoride harms your mouth and you should avoid it in fluoridated water or with dental products like mouthwash. Contrary to many beliefs, organizations like the WHO have approved universal fluoride use to promote oral health. The mineral is essential in remineralization and prevents tooth decay.
Fact: Fluoride Lowers the Chances of Caries or Cavities
No one should dispute that fluoride lowers the danger of dental caries when used consistently. Cavities occur when tooth decay-causing bacteria ferment food debris in the mouth, producing toxic acids that demineralize the enamel. When you fail to address the problem early, the cavities accumulate bacteria, causing infection and tooth decay. Lastly, you end up with severe tooth pain or tooth loss. In children, dental cavities cause devastating effects because not only do they affect the child’s oral health, but the child’s weight gain and growth journey are impaired because of poor eating caused by the painful teeth. Tooth cavities also affect your child’s life and, in severe but rare cases, cause death. Thankfully, if your child’s fluoride intake is sufficient, the possibility of developing dental cavities is minimized due to reduced bacteria activity in plaque and tartar. Again, fluoride enhances remineralization, which builds the enamel.
During birth, an infant’s teeth already exist in their jawbone, only that they have not popped. Because the teeth have yet to break through the bone, it does not mean that they cannot benefit from fluoride in food, water, or other products. Systematic introduction of fluoride to the child early in life strengthens the enamel, making teeth highly resistant to dental caries. That way, your child is at a lesser risk of developing cavities.
When your child’s baby teeth begin to pop, the toxic bacteria in the mouth produce acids that erode the enamel, causing cavities. Luckily, when the child drinks fluoridated water or brushes using toothpaste containing fluoride, the harmful bacteria and acids are weakened, lowering the possibility of demineralization and caries.
You can also visit a dentist with your child to have them apply fluoride treatment topically to the child’s teeth. Doing so, combined with other fluoride sources like water, food, and toothpaste, increases fluoride presence in the saliva, meaning the child’s teeth regulate amounts of fluoride throughout, significantly minimizing the chances of tooth cavities.
Various studies have been conducted to support the use of fluoride in reducing cavity risks. One is the 2015 Cochrane Review, which reviewed 20 studies before 1975. The review discovered that children using water containing fluoride had 35% fewer missing teeth and tooth decay cases. Conversely, adults had a 26% reduced risk of decayed or missing teeth than little ones using water that is not fluoridated. Adding controlled amounts of fluoride in water also improved the number of children without tooth decay on their primary teeth by 15% and in permanent teeth by 14%. The reviewers concluded that fluoridation effectively lessened caries in primary and permanent teeth in children.
Myth: Fluoride is only Beneficial to Adults
With many studies focusing on fluoride benefits for children, many people have assumed that the mineral does not benefit older people. It is ironic to think this valuable mineral only helps children when the truth is that people of all ages can benefit from the treatment. To debunk the fiction that fluoride only helps children, you should understand the following facts:
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The mineral benefits people of all ages.
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Fluoride strengthens the tooth surface and lessens the danger of dental caries.
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The mineral emanates from different sources like food, water, and dental products.
Therefore, when someone tells you the mineral is only meant for children, remind them of these facts.
The National Survey of Adult Dental Health, conducted in Australia from 2004 to 2006, also showed that drinking fluoridated water benefits adult cavity prevention. The survey demonstrated that adults who used fluoridated water for over 14 years had a twelve percent lower risk of developing dental caries than adults who consumed water that is fluoridated.
Besides, as an adult, you should incorporate fluoride in your dental routine for more robust and healthy teeth. If you have dry mouth syndrome, fluoride can also be beneficial in reducing the chances of cavities. Speak to a dental professional about ways to use fluoride as an adult to enhance oral health.
Fiction: Fluoride is Not Essential if You Have a Proper Oral Hygiene Routine
Many people have a misconception that good dental hygiene practices like brushing teeth twice a day and flossing are sufficient to prevent dental problems like gum disease and cavities. While healthy oral hygiene does prevent many oral issues, you can introduce an additional protection layer for your teeth and gums by incorporating fluoride. You can apply the mineral directly to the tooth enamel for remineralization and to increase resistance to harmful acids and bacteria that eat away the enamel.
Even though toothpaste contains fluoride, its amounts are not the same as those used by dentists for treatment. Therefore, combining good oral hygiene and fluoride treatment will give you healthier teeth.
Fiction: Dental Fluoride is a Harmful Chemical
It is a fact that fluoride is not a chemical but a naturally occurring mineral in water, soil, food, and rocks. When the mineral is used at controlled levels, it benefits your oral health, contrary to what many people say is poisonous. However, one cannot deny that when used in high quantities, particularly in fluoridated water, the mineral causes fluorosis, which is the browning of teeth. When taken in excessive amounts, anything, even water or caffeine, is poisonous, unlike fluoride. This is why water fluoridation levels are set at 0.7 mg/L. When you use these amounts, it will not be possible to suffer fluoride poisoning.
Apart from water, dental fluoride treatment is controlled, so chances of exposure to excessive fluoride are minimal. The same applies to dental products like mouthwash and toothpaste. The mineral levels are regulated, so the fluoride cannot be toxic.
Myth: Fluoridated Water is Sufficient to Prevent Tooth Decay
Some people assume that because fluoride prevents caries and tooth decay, using fluoridated water alone is sufficient to keep dental issues at bay. However, this is false. The mineral will help strengthen the tooth surface and weaken harmful bacteria but will not entirely stop tooth decay. You must combine the treatment with proper oral hygiene habits and frequent visits to the dentist for oral examination.
Fact: Fluoride is Safe for Children
Many studies have confirmed that children can safely use fluoride and gain several benefits. However, many people still have the misconception that the mineral is harmful to children. It is false to say this because it is factual that children can use fluoride safely. Besides being safe, the mineral helps children develop healthy and robust primary teeth and reduces the possibility of cavities. If your community water is not sufficiently fluoridated, the American Pediatrics Academy encourages you as a parent to use fluoride supplements.
Additionally, you can take the children for fluoride treatment. This is recommended under the following circumstances:
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Your children use toothpaste that does not contain fluoride.
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You do not take fluoridated water.
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You want to protect the teeth of your children.
Fluoride treatment is safe and quick. It only takes a few seconds. You can schedule an appointment for the treatment or have the dentist apply fluoride to your teeth during your biannual visits.
During the treatment, the dentist brushes the child’s teeth using a fluoride liquid that resembles toothpaste but contains a higher fluoride concentration.
If you cannot take the child to the dentist, you can perform the treatment virtually, where the dentist gives instructions on how to use the fluoride. If unsure whether the mineral is safe for your child, debunk the myth by speaking to a dentist.
Myth: Fluoride Works Best When Ingested
Some people believe that fluoride should not be ingested, while others believe that ingestion is the only way to benefit from the mineral. It is false to assume that fluoride only works when you drink fluoridated water or accidentally swallow dental products containing fluoride, like mouthwash. However, the truth is that topical application of the mineral through products like toothpaste and mouthwash directly to the tooth surface also strengthens the enamel and lowers the chances of dental caries. It promotes remineralization and weakens the toxic bacteria that produce acids that erode the enamel, leading to cavities.
Caring for Your Teeth
Despite many studies showing the health benefits of fluoride, numerous fictions exist about it. Some of the misconceptions, like fluoride does not help adults, can expose you to a significant risk of dental cavities. Caries, when untreated, can cause tooth loss and severe pain. Additionally, the cost of treatment is extremely high because you will require a root canal or implant to fix the damaged tooth. Therefore, debunking these misleading myths can promote healthy teeth and avoid severe dental problems. However, you must incorporate healthy oral hygiene habits, including regular visits to the dentist, for maximum benefits.
Find the Right Cosmetic Dentistry Service Near Me
Fluoride is highly beneficial as it is easily absorbed by the enamel, particularly in children, helping them grow strong teeth resistant to decay and cavities. Also, it reverses decay in the early stages through remineralization. Unfortunately, numerous misconceptions surround the mineral that could cloud your judgment. At Lasting Impressions Dental Spa, we will debunk all these myths and explain fluoride further to maximize its benefits in Encino, CA. Call us at 818-751-5100 to discover more about the mineral.
