Pro Fluoride? Anti Fluoride? Rumours Are Circulating!
Yes, fluoride is essential for bone development and cavity prevention! The scientific community at least agrees on this point. The World Health Organization confirms it: there is a direct link between the consumption of fluoride and the reduction of cavities. Fluoride is a natural element present in nature in certain foods, beverages and even in the air (yes!), but especially in water sources. In the latter, its concentration can vary considerably.
This is why some communities adjust the concentration of this mineral in their tap water so that their citizens can benefit from effective protection against cavities. However, fluoride toothpastes have long since taken over our family taps to provide additional protection. To find your way through all the commercial offers, your dentists on the South Shore, at the Centre Dentaire & D’implantologie Boucherville at 550 de Mortagne in Boucherville, will once again be your best friends.
Fluoride, the Cure for All Toothaches?
Loved by some, despised by others, fluoride is undoubtedly the ally of our oral health. However, many rumours, true or false, circulate on its account. Knowing that tap water contains fluoride most of the time, adding fluoride to your toothpaste is an excellent thing. Nonetheless, vigilance is required regarding its dosage. Indeed, depending on age, fluoride must be dosed differently and never be swallowed.
If the action of fluoride, as much preventive as curative, is not contested, its consumption and its dosage are indeed to be watched. The web is full of alarmist rumours concerning the excessive consumption of fluorine: don’t panic, unless you eat your toothpaste greedily at breakfast, you are not at great risk! For children, caution is required: some of them ingest it because they are too young to have the reflex to spit it out after brushing their teeth!
For children with a high risk of cavities, fluoride supplements are prescribed by the pediatrician, the doctor or the dentist. An individual fluoride assessment should be carried out beforehand in order to take into account a certain number of criteria in order to evaluate the real needs of the child and thus not overdose the fluoride intake. As in many cases, the best can become the enemy of the good. Moreover, the use of fluoridated toothpaste is not recommended before the age of three.
But how does it work? Plaque on our teeth is teeming with nasty bacteria that prevent the repair process inside the tooth, thus promoting the appearance of cavities. Fluoride has an antiseptic effect against these germs and reduces their number. Thus, it decreases the dental plaque that causes many cavities. Fluorine also strengthens the enamel by incorporating it and making it even more resistant to acid attacks.
Fluorine is therefore an ally of choice in the fight against the proliferation of cavities; it has largely proven its usefulness and effectiveness. Today, the benefits of this trace element, which is fixed in the enamel of the teeth and contributes to the solidity of the skeleton, are confirmed by years of use by doctors, dentists and dental hygienists, mostly in the form of toothpaste or tablets to supplement the existing contribution in the various waters we consume.Your dentists at the Centre Dentaire & D’implantologie in Boucherville will advise you on the best course of action for yourself or your children, whatever their age. If you feel the need, and if you still have a concern about it, ask them to explain its action and especially the hindsight of the last few years: they will answer you as usual with patience and competence and you can be completely reassured.
