Maintaining Oral Health: Benefits of Fluoride

Fluoride is a naturally-occurring mineral found in our bones and teeth. They are available in abundance in water, soil, rocks, plants, and even the air we breathe. Fluoride is most popularly known to improve dental health by strengthening the tooth enamel. It slows down the wear and tear of minerals on the enamel and efficiently restores it. Public water supply in certain US cities, thus, contain fluoride. Many dental health products, including toothpaste, mouth rinses, and supplements, also contain fluoride, given its significant contribution to maintaining oral health.

Benefits of Fluoride

Be it topical treatment or ingestion through drinking water - fluoride offers the following benefits:

• Prevents Tooth Decay:The bacteria in our mouth break down the sugars we eat and produce acids that gradually demineralize the tooth enamel. Demineralized enamels make them vulnerable to decay. Using fluoride prevents such conditions by remineralizing the tooth enamel.
• Protects Children and Adults from Cavities: Early signs of cavities in children as well as adults can be reversed with the help of fluoride treatments at the dental office or using dentist-recommended products or medication that contain a higher concentration of fluoride.
• Effective in Maintaining Good Oral Health: Making fluoride a part of everyday oral hygiene routines, besides community water fluoridation, is highly effective in preventing dental decay and promoting optimum oral health.
• Cost-Effective: The regular use of fluoride as a preventive measure against decay (a common dental concern) proves more cost-effective than getting dental fillings, crowns, or root canals as a solution to tooth damage caused by cavities.

Fluoride for Better Teeth

Thus, fluoride products do wonders in taking care of that beautiful smile. However, it is important not to go overboard with fluoride usage as high levels of fluoride is linked to several health issues.

Restrict yourself to brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day and using a fluoride-based mouthwash once a day. Children below six years of age need not use fluoride mouthwashes and should be given only a tiny bit of toothpaste as their swallowing reflexes are not completely developed.

So, supervise children below six years of age when using fluoride toothpaste and speak to your dentist about using any additional fluoride products or getting a fluoride treatment.