The Truth about Fluoride: What It Does To Your Dental Health

Fluoride is known to have beneficial effects to your teeth. It protects the enamel from the corroding effect of toxins excreted bacterial activities. As you grow older, the strength of your teeth becomes lower. Finding ways to keep it strong is worth the effort. With many products containing fluoride, it won’t be hard keeping your dentition strong and healthy.

How beneficial fluoride really is for the teeth? Here are the most known benefits:

Fluoride and Your Dental Health

• Fluoride helps strengthen the enamel. It keeps it strong and protected from the toxic acids released by bacteria after they have digested food debris found in the creases of the teeth.
• Fluoride-rich food and supplements are beneficial to expectant moms and babies, too. When a pregnant mother gets fluoride supplements, the forming child inside her will acquire its benefits for his pre-forming teeth, but just a little. When the mother is lactating, the fluoride goes to the milk to be taken by the baby. In this manner, the baby gets the protective attribute of the fluoride for his tiny teeth.
• If you are living in rural areas where deep-well is still used for drinking, you can get a lot of fluoride benefits from it. Typically, deep-well drinking water contains high amounts of fluoride. You have to check it first with the water analyst to make sure that the fluoride content does not reach toxicity level. If the fluoride level is proven to be within the beneficial range, it can give you natural teeth protection just by drinking your deep-well water.

Bottled water also contains some amount of fluoride. Urban drinking water does have some too but, not as much as the natural deep-well drinking water of the rural areas.  If there is fluoride in the water that your baby is getting, then there is usually no need for fluoride supplements.

• Many natural fruit juices are also good sources of fluoride. Keep a keen eye about the juices available in the supermarkets. While some are truly natural, most of the fruit juices from the shelf have high sugar content that do harm the teeth instead of protecting it. Among the common natural fruit juices, white grape juice is found to have the highest fluoride content.
• Although fluoride fortified toothpastes are good for your dental health, it is not advisable to be used for children before reaching 2 years old. For children between 2-5 it is best to use just a small amount of fluoridated toothpaste, like the size of the head of a match.  They do not need any more than this, because the concentration of fluoride in children’s toothpaste is the same as the adults.  Use your judgment, if your child is 2 or 3 and still can’t spit out, you may not want to use fluoridated toothpaste yet.  Ingested fluoride can cause a condition called fluorosis.
• Fluoride tablets that are prescribed by your dentist or pediatrician have best effects when taken right before bedtime on an empty stomach. Chewable fluoride supplements should be taken after brushing to obtain best results.  There are controversy on taking fluoride supplements.  In United States, there is usually no need for it because there is enough fluoride from other sources.
• Topical fluoride application every 6 months at your dentist is highly recommended.  This is a very simple and inexpensive way to keep your teeth and your child’s teeth strong and protected against cavities.

Fluoride is one of the elements that keep your dentition strong and well-protected from bacterial excretions. It can be found in many things that you eat and drink every day. Choosing rightly your water, food and food supplement for fluoride content will make your stronger and in good condition.

By Ladan Zinati