Fluoride

Fluoride Water Testing
How Fluoride is Available
Fluoride Trays

Fluoride very simply makes the enamel of your teeth stronger - harder. If it is harder, then it will be less likely to breakdown to decay. Most cities have fluoride in their water supply. The amount of fluoride present in water is usually about 1 part per billion.

NOTE - If your water is NOT fluoridated you should be giving prescription fluoride drops and/or a vitamin supplements with fluoride to your child. If you are not certain if there is fluoride in your water, you should call your water company supplying you - they will be able to tell you if and at what amount there is fluoride in your water. You may also send a sample of your water to be tested. The address for this testing is.....

Fluoride Can Be Delivered in 3 Ways

• Drinking water
  From the standpoint of dental health, fluoride digested can only benefit children. In other words, if the teeth are still forming (under the gums) the fluoride will be taken up by these forming teeth and thus making them more resistant to decay. After the approximate age of 14 years - there is no benefit to us from fluoride in our water.

  The only method of gaining benefits of fluoride after
  the age of 14 is to topically apply it to our teeth.

• Fluoride toothpaste
  The fluoride in toothpaste can be a help for sure. The amount of fluoride contained in toothpaste's is minimal.
• Fluoride concentrates
  These can be in office fluoride rinses (usually done in conjunction with a professional cleaning) and/or a prescribed concentrate. These concentrates are usually in the form of a gel and are used on a daily basis.

Fluoride Trays

One more important note concerning fluoride - in our senior citizen population it is not uncommon to find an individual who has had no decay for literally decades suddenly (sometimes in a matter of months) begin to show signs of rapidly progressing decay. There are several possible explanations of this phenomenon. One possible explanati on is a change in medications taken, another is just a lack of saliva. In both these cases saliva content is a likely culprit. Another factor is generalized recession that occurs over time with a large part of our population. This translates into decay beginning on the root surface of the teeth. Root surfaces do NOT have enamel covering them and are much more susceptible to decay. What I have done is make very light and clear "trays" that fit exactly to their teeth and over their gums a short distance. Each day prescription fluoride concentrate gel is placed into the tray and then left in the mouth for about 20 minutes. The fluoride can react directly with the root surfaces and "harden" them against decay. This is a VERY preventive procedure and it has helped quite a few people.