By: Dr. John Dougherty
It’s alarming to learn that tooth decay is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases in the U.S. Dentists are now seeing an increasing number of children as young as four years old with moderate to severe cases of tooth decay. The good news is this is preventable; and fluoride is an important ingredient in prevention.
To keep children cavity-free for as long as possible, the American Dental Association recently changed the recommended age of fluoride use from two-years-old to the first signs of baby teeth. It was previously thought that fluoride use on babies may cause discoloration on their adult teeth, and possibly cause harm. As a result, the recent change in recommendation has stimulated some debate.
How does fluoride help?
First, we must consider the overall benefits of fluoride:
- It helps maintain saliva, preventing plaque build up
- It prevents plaque from forming acids that cause tooth decay
- It strengthens weakened areas of the mouth
Adults that brush their teeth daily with fluoride toothpaste should be sufficiently protected. For infants, it is safe for parents to use small amounts of fluoride toothpaste with a soft brush, to help protect their teeth as they begin to form. For children, fluoride toothpaste alone is not enough. To properly protect their teeth from decay, during the prime growing years, children need fluoride from additional sources, such as local drinking water.
Recommended Alternative Sources of Fluoride
- Fluoride rinse
- Fluoride gum or drops
- Tap water
While some parents are concerned that too much fluoride can be harmful, proper amounts of toothpaste and fluoride supplements are safe. Now, if a child ingests an entire tube of toothpaste, it can be extremely harmful and in some cases even fatal. Fortunately, if they only swallow a pea-sized amount, there are no damaging effects.