What Is Dental Fluoride?

Dental fluoride helps to prevent cavities.

Fluoride is a natural mineral that's found in abundance throughout the earth's crust. In the 1930s, scientists found that individuals who drank water with fluoride had two-thirds fewer cavities than those who did not, according to Colgate.com. Fluoride is also available in mouth wash at local drug stores. These mouth washes can help prevent tooth decay and cavities significantly. Getting enough fluoride is an important part of maintaining a healthy mouth and keeping your permanent teeth.

Considerations

Saliva causes the natural mineralization and demineralization of teeth.

Fluoride is often added to water supplies to help prevent tooth decay, according to Colgate.com. When we eat, saliva becomes more acidic and causes natural demineralization of teeth. However, at other times when saliva is less acidic, it replenishes supplies of calcium and phosphorus to remineralize teeth. If fluoride is present during the remineralization process, the remineralization processes are more effective.

If your water supply contains fluoride and you're brushing your teeth regularly with a fluoride toothpaste, then you're getting enough fluoride. You should brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day, according to Kidshealth.org.

Benefits

Fluoride is naturally added to most water supplies in the United States.

If fluoride is added to a community's water supply, tooth decay significantly decreases. There are two ways that fluoride helps to prevent tooth decay, according to Colgate.com. The first way is by hardening the enamel of teeth before they emerge. This helps particularly with developing teeth of infants and children. The second way that fluoride helps prevent tooth decay is hardening enamel of adult teeth that have already emerged.

Adding fluoride to water has resulted in 50 to 60 percent less tooth decay, according to the American Hygienist Dental Association.

Significance

Fluoride helps prevent cavities.

Organizations such as the World Health Organization, The American Dental Association and the American Medical Association have endorsed adding fluoride to water to help prevent tooth decay.

Over 66 percent of people in the United States have water supplies with fluoride, according to the American Hygienist Dental Association. Americans pay 72 cents per year in taxes on average to get fluoride in their water supply.

Warning

If children get too much fluoride they can develop enamel flourosis.

If children consume more fluoride than they need, they may develop enamel flourosis which is a chalk-like discoloration, according to the American Hygienist Dental Association.

Fun Facts

Fluoride is the 13th most abundant element on earth, according to the American Hygienist Dental Association, and some water supplies naturally contain fluoride, according to Colgate.com. Did you know that 43 out of 50 cities have fluoride in their water supplies?

References

• Colgate: What is Fluoride?
• Kidshealth: Taking Care of Your Teeth
• American Dental Hygenists Association: Fluoride Facts
• World Health Organization: Fluoride in Drinking Water
• American Dental Association: Fluoride

Resources

• University of California Los Angeles: Fluoride
• National Academies Press: Fluoride in Drinking Water
• University of Notre Dame: Fluoride
• Penn State: Adult Fluoride FAQs
• University of Maryland Medical Center: Fluoride Overdose