Published in March 2021. 

Fluoride: Should I or Shouldn’t I

I’ve bet that you’ve heard a lot about fluoride, both good and bad. Leading to the question of the hour, is fluoride good for your mouth; yes or no? We love it when our patients get interested in topics related to their teeth, and fluoride is a great topic to explore.

Fluoride is a mineral and it’s a lot more common in your day-to-day lives than you would think. Water, salt and numerous foods all contain fluoride, making it a pretty common staple in our daily lives. Fluoride is vital because it helps prevent decay, it can also go as far as to reverse decay.

After many hard years of research, the Canadian Dental Association fully supports its use in daily oral care. You can frequently find it embedded in various kinds of toothpaste, mouthwash and supplements. Fluoride plays a big role in preventing acid-based erosion of your enamel but that’s not all, it’s also great for remineralizing teeth and it has the added benefit of preventing harmful bacterial growth.

We all have ample opportunity to incorporate fluoride into our daily routines, but there are a few people who should look into upping the quantity in their system. People who have receding gums, for example, their exposed roots lack hard enamel making them more vulnerable to decay. People taking medication are also at a higher risk because of a reduced saliva flow, something that has been linked to cavity formation.

If you think that you fall into any of these categories stop by and we’ll help! Remember to come by before you take matters into your own hands. Dental and skeletal fluorosis can occur with too much fluoride. While dental fluorosis is usually just a couple of white spots on your teeth, skeletal fluorosis can result in altered bone structure and even calcification of the limbs.

Ultimately, you should get on the fluoride train! Fluoride is a natural part of our daily lives and has proven time and time again, to be an effective agent in our oral health mission. Remember though, that while fluoride is good for us, too much of anything is a bad thing.