XP: Fluoride?

SandyEggo5

DD (2 yrs old) is going in for her first dental check up next week and they asked if we would like her to get a fluoride treatment. I said I wasn't sure yet, that I would look into it. I've found arguments for both sides. I normally buy fluoride-free toothpaste for DH and I, but I think it's different for children (DD doesn't yet brush with toothpaste). What do/would you do? Do you have any good resources that helped in your decision? TIA!

vvvvvfee

DS is too young to receive it yet, but i am fine with him getting the fluoride treatment when he is older. i had it applied as a child and did not get any cavities until i was in my 20s (which were probably exacerbated by nighttime tooth grinding which i was not aware of at the time).

fluoride varnish is american dental association approved and proven to reduce the incidence of cavities in children. also, the varnish that they use is very sticky and only a small amount (1/2 ml) is used, so very little is ingested. the treatment has been used in europe for decades with no reports of adverse effects.

yes, fluoride can be harmful in high concentrations, but as they say, the dose makes the poison.

edit: forgot to mention that the ADA recently began recommending that parents brush children's teeth with a very small amount of fluoridated toothpaste as soon as teeth erupt.

TiffanyBerry

I'm not a fan of systemic fluoride treatment, myself.  (That would be fluoridating the water supply.)  But I DO believe in topical fluoride treatment.  (I don't want the fluoride to replace calcium in my skeletal bone matrix while I'm ok with the tradeoff in the tooth matrix.)  Of course, reducing sugar and refined grain consumption as far as humanly possible is, as best I can tell, far more important.

alisonc87

Topical fluoride treatments are wonderful for children's teeth, and from what trainings I have had with dentist, the general consensus is that there is no such thing as too much topical fluoride. You can however get too much indigestible fluoride (i.e. tablets/supplements, fluoride in the water system) I just facilitated a parent training at the Head Start I work at last night and a hygienist brought in 3 brown eggs. 1 had the gel fluoride applied that they use in the trays at the dentist, 1 had the fluoride varnish that they paint on, and 1 had no fluoride. Each egg was soaked overnight in soda, and the egg without fluoride ended up loosing the entire layer that contained the brown color (which would be like the enamel on your teeth) and turned ended up white. The fluoride treated eggs both maintained the layer of fluoride that protected the brown part of the shell.