Children used to always get fluoride treatments painted on their teeth whenever they visited the dentist, yet adults seldom did. Dr. Kirk Petersen, DMD, who runs Hemet West Dental Office in Hemet, California, is trying to change all that. If fluoride is good for kids, why isn’t it good for adults as well? Answer: It is.
Up until probably about five or six years ago we only did the in-office fluoride treatments on children up to about age 16. Then, all of a sudden, we figured out if it was good for kids then adults could also benefit from it. In fact, doing a professional in-office fluoride treatment every six months can decrease the cavities a person gets by up to 75%.
When people say that fluoride is only good for developing teeth, then that is only true for systemic fluoride, like the fluoride we have in the water here. But placing the fluoride on the teeth is beneficial for all ages, from children up to senior citizens.
There are three basic ways of giving patients fluoride:
- One is a rinse which you swish in your mouth for about 30 seconds.
- The second one is a gel or foam which goes in a tray, which you wear in your mouth for about a minute.
- The most recent method, which I think is the best method, is a fluoride varnish, which is painted on the teeth. It hardens once it touches the saliva and it wears off slowly in about six or eight hours, so it is on quite a bit longer. It is also of a higher concentration, it’s about five percent versus about one or two percent with the other options. And also there is less of a chance of swallowing it which can sometimes make you feel nauseated.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring element which is also actually in the water in certain areas of the world. How it works is it the teeth actually absorb the fluoride, and it thus helps decrease the softening of the teeth. Also, when the crystals of the teeth are re-forming, it forms in a harder, more cavity-resistant form.
Thankfully, fluoride tastes better now than it used to. And also with the gel or the foam they have decreased the amount of time from about four minutes down to one minute. So it is easier from that standpoint as well. And the varnish is also good for patients like young children or developmentally disabled patients, as you can’t always expect them to cooperate well with the other methods involved.
Another reason we started doing the adult fluoride is that many patients are on a variety of medications that dry the mouth, which also puts them at increased risk of cavities, especially at the gumline. Fluoride can definitely help with that too.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
