First let me be clear: I’m not a crazy conspiracy person (…on this) I just don’t rely on a municipal well. As far as I know adding fluoride to the private well at my houses is not a thing, good or bad. I did drink municipal water for two years when I lived on campus in college.
That said, is fluoride a benefit to adults or just children?
When I was a kid I got fluoride treatments at the dentist, but then aged out. I’ve never had a cavity in forty years, but I’d like to keep it that way. Should I still be doing it?
Also no, I’m not using the internet as a substitute for a dentist, just my next dental appointment is in four months. TIA
I’ve never heard of floride treating a well. But wouldn’t it be better to add floride after the filter etc, for more consistent dosage?
I would think so. I use fluoridated toothpaste, and another commenter recommended fluoridated mouthwash.
Seems like the answer is yes and I’ll be discussing it with my dentist.
My teeth were getting increasingly sensitive. I switched to a special toothpaste and it helped but only a little. my dentist started giving me annual fluoride treatments, similar to the ones I got as a kid, and that did the trick.
My dentist says most Americans stop getting fluoride treatments at age 12 not because their adult teeth don’t benefit from it, but because our shitty insurance system simply doesn’t cover it as a preventative treatment. So with tooth pain, I have a diagnosis for which fluoride is a covered treatment.
Obligatory “do your own research” and don’t listen to random internet stranger’s dentist’s claim.
Thanks. I’ll definitely be asking my dentist just a while until my next appointment
The answer is yes. This is becoming another stupid culture war initiated by the right over something that is essentially settled science. Fluoride in the water supply is not just fine, it’s good for your teeth. I am not mad at you for asking this question. I am mad that this has become enough of an issue to sow this kind of doubt.
We have data consisting of over half a century of literally every American who has drank from the tap - so over 99% of Americans - supporting it.
Even if we conceded more research needed to be done, which I am not conceding because we know a lot about it already, then by now because of the sheer number of people who have consumed it regularly we would have evidence to the contrary. Which we don’t. Much like with how if the vaccines were as dangerous as anti-vaxxers claimed we would know by now due to the sheer population of people that have already had it in their system for years
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Many many times
Wow, that does sound political!
Again, I’m not at all talking about additives to municipal water. That’s clearly good. Just since my houses don’t have it I’m curious if there’s a missed opportunity for better.
Seems like “yes but small” given already using fluoridated toothpaste
You can always add a fluoride mouthwash to your routine if you’re worried.
Appreciate the cool head responding to me. I was probably a little more worried about subtext than I needed to be! I’ve just seen a massive surge in skepticism around fluoride lately and it has me concerned.
I’m about to install a reverse osmosis water filter because I want less PFOS (and other crap) in me. I understand this will also get rid of most of the fluoride.
I assume we’ll be fine because we brush or use fluoride mouthwash daily. But I’d like to hear if anyone thinks otherwise. I’m not opposed to fluoride in water, just wondering how much downside there is to not having it in my water when we do use fluoride otherwise.
Unless you live next to a PTFE manufacturing plant, you are not at risk of PFOS exposure.
Yes, keep using toothpaste with flouride.
I tried toothpaste without flouride. It hurt my teeth after weeks (i.e: i also heavy drinking sweet drink like pepsi and snack at night, At night, I brush my teeth always before sleep or after snack.).
I have never have a flouride treatment. I don’t know what is it until you mention.
Next time you get your teeth cleaned at the dentist, which you should be doing every 6 months or so, ask them to give you a fluoride treatment. They literally just brush this minty sweet stuff onto your teeth and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes.
The fluoride will leech into your teeth and help reinforce any weak spots to decrease the likelihood of developing cavities.
I mean, if you’re a conspiracy theorist then in theory it will calcify your third eye as well, but I have no way of verifying that claim, or even proving that the third eye exists other than the pineal gland in your brain, and I’ve never heard of anyone’s pineal gland being calcified.
Ah so fluoride treatment is what I thought it was. Here in Australia we still get it with every teeth cleaning. Granted dental is an add on with private insurance so not everyone has access to it I believe.
In addition to calcifying your third eye, also be wary of those darn women trying to steal your fluoridated, erm, essence.
Do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk, ice cream? Ice cream, Mandrake? Children’s ice cream!..You know when fluoridation began?..1946. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works. I first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love… Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I - I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women, er, women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake…but I do deny them my essence.
- Ripper, in the film Dr. Strangleove
I did as well. Same symptoms and on my next dentist visit, the dentist had noticed my sensitivity. Back to flouride tooth paste. I switched mainly because I wanted a tooth paste that was in a refillable container or used less plastic. Alas, I have to pick my health as a priority over helping the environment.
I went for years without fluoride. I preferred the flavor and how my mouth felt with the more “natural” ones. Now I switch back and forth, but still avoid Colgate, crest, etc.
For a municipal supply it’s worth the effort, it improves oral health for a whole community at the cost of some fluoride and a dosimeter. For a private supply it’s not worth it. Fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash will give you a good dose of fluoride.
This is the wrong question.
You should be asking, “While flouride helps other people, does it hurt me or is it all-good?”
Because, really, that’s the only part that matters.
Not really. Since it isn’t in my well no matter what I do, the effects of fluoride in water aren’t relevant to my question.
But the consensus in the comments is that fluoride in my toothpaste and maybe mouthwash is sufficient, and having fluoride treatments as a child but not as an adult makes sense.
I grew up in a house with well water, no fluoride. I’ve had a million cavities, and my dentist suggested that was a contributing factor, although certainly diet and genetics are too.
Yeah, I think that’s why my dentist gave me fluoride treatments as a child. Have you gotten any as an adult?
I think I had one treatment as an adult. But a dental hygienist recommended rinsing every night with the purple Listerine that has fluoride in it, which… hasn’t hurt? I think it’s doing the trick and I haven’t had more cavities since, but of course couldn’t say for sure if that’s why.
Interesting, I get a fluoride treatment at the dentist every time. It’s just part of the thing, why I can’t eat for 45 minutes after.
Also, wish I had a link to the article, but I was reading about how whether you “have” a cavity depends on your dentist’s interpretation of the x-rays and their philosophy about treatment. Some dentists will see a light area and say “let’s fill that before it gets worse” and others will note it and see how things develop. It was actually pretty alarming because sounds like professional standards for dentistry are looser than some other areas of medicine, and the description rang true for some of the dentists I’ve seen.
This is definitely a thing. I mentioned no cavities, but I have had some “slight decalcification we might want to address before it gets worse” that then got better on their own.
Yeah, I would much prefer if someone framed it that way than “you have decay, let’s schedule an appointment for a filling”
Grew up in a well water house, we were prescribed fluoride pills.
First cavity came at 36
How long did you take fluoride pills, as an adult or only as a child?
I started when I was 5 and probably stopped when I was old enough to forget taking them and not be reminded to, probably around 16 or so.
I don’t recall to be honest.
ass
No I was mostly thinking of oral intake
🤣
I moved to Germany in my late 20’s and lived there for 2 years. I went with perfect teeth; I returned with several cavities. My brushing habits did not change, and while you could blame my cavities on several factors (the food was different; I drank way more beer; I got two years older), I’ve always attributed it to the fact that Germany does not fluoridate their municipal water - and everyone drinks bottled water anyway. At least, the crowd I ran with did. It’s been years, but as I remember, you didn’t get water at restaurants unless you asked, and then if you did, you got bottled water. In any case, I went from drinking fluoridated water regularly to zero flouride except what was in the toothpaste. And, honestly, I don’t remember paying much attention to which toothpaste I bought, and many don’t have flouride in them.
So, yeah. It’s just one anecdote, and there could have been many other factors, but it convinced me about the importance of flouride. Now we drink municipal water (US), but it’s going through a whole-house triple filtration system and I don’t know how much flouride we’re getting. So in addition to the usual tooth care (brushing, flossing) I also rinse with a flouride mouth rinse, and I’ve been doing OK dentally.
Thanks.
I hadn’t thought of a fluoridated mouthwash but that looks obvious in hindsight.
Well, it’s different. On the one hand, you’re not getting flouride into your system; on the other, you’re not getting flouride into your system.
I really don’t know if flouride ingested makes its way to your teeth, or how much difference it makes if it does. But I’m not about to start self-medicating with the stuff, so rinse it is.
I believe the effect is entirely topical, it just doesn’t hurt to ingest a little too. The fluoride ions trigger re-hardening of the tooth enamel and can take the place of missing calcium in the outer enamel structure, but those only happen when they hit the outer enamel in your mouth, you don’t regrow enamel on fully formed teeth
Chances are unless you’re actively trying to avoid it the toothpaste you use has it already. I’m not aware of any particular benefits or detriments to having it in the water supply versus the more direct application route.
Think poor and homeless. It’s to catch the ones that fall through the cracks. It’s not much, but it’s something.
Yes I make sure mine does
Here in Germany, fluoride is mandated by law to be added to table salt, so I assume it is good to have in general.
However, regular toothpaste as well as many mouthwashes contain fluoride. In particular, they can contain a much higher dosis, because you spit it back out, so if you’re worried about your teeth, these are definitely the way to go.
Very interesting! I’ve never heard of adding fluoride to table salt, but I can’t see why not!
You can also find table salt with folic acid (vitamin B9) here, and apparently sometimes also with selenium.
And yeah, quite interesting to me, too, to read up on this. I always thought, table salt is NaCl + the legally mandated additives. I guess, they do throw in these additives to give themselves a unique selling point.
And that works for me. Will look out for table salt with iodine, fluoride and folic acid on my next shop visit.
Here in Germany, fluoride is mandated by law to be added to table salt, so I assume it is good to have in general.
Isn’t that iodine?
Hmm, yeah, seems like only iodine is actually mandated by law. My table salt does have fluoride, but apparently that’s an optional add-on.
I believe, I rarely see salt without fluoride in the shops, but that could be a regional thing (other regions might have more fluoride naturally in their tap water).
Both exists, and salt can have both. Fluor in the salt is quite specific to Germany and a few other countries though.
Interesting! Thanks
Fluoride is great in toothpaste. Kills the germs and sterilises the gums.
I fought our Council to stop fluoride being added to our water here in Southampton in the UK about 10 years ago. I asked questions about whether gastrointestinal doctors had been consulted and what the effects were on the rest of the body, the bones etc. Nobody could answer. At the time I found that worrying. I am pro-vaccination, pro-science. I pointed out the severe lack of dentists that even kids dont any longer have access to at the time (it has since become far worse). Without actual dentists people lose the influence they provide as well as the treatment.
Chlorine chemistry is added to water to treat the water. Fluorine is added to treat the person. And to me that sounded like medication with no opt out (other than moving home). People should have a right to chose what they dont want to put in their bodies, even if it is technically slightly harmful in the long term (even nutrients). Science is learning that over sterilisation of other parts of the body (eg the skin) can affect the health. What we need is far, far more data on those that do have these water additions to see what happens to the populations health.
Fluoride does not kill or sterilize anything. It reacts with enamel (hydroxyapetate) to convert it to a stronger version (hydroxyfluorapatite).
People who want their enamel to be softer and wear through are welcome to drink bottled water.
I am already paying for water - through my water bill. I have a right to as clear a water as possible. And fluoride is technically a sterilising agent - fluorine and chlorine are right next to each other in the periodic table.
There’s a Sawbones episode on fluoride and its effects on teeth (and why it’s good for you), if you like to be educated and entertained at the same time, I highly recommend listening to it! Great podcast.
And yes, fluoride is good for adult teeth, too.
