Fluoride....is it bad or good?

[TheHouseOnBellSt]

DH swears it's bad. Where we live there is no Fluoride added to the water so the dentist, upon seeing my 10 year old with a small hole in her tooth, gave us a prescription for extra fluoride toothpaste.

DH thinks it's all bad, bad, bad.

He buys toothpaste from Holland & Barret with none in there..and tries to encourage the DC to use it.

They prefer the normal stuff though. So...is it bad? Is it good? AIBU to use the ones with added Fluoride for me and DC?

[mmollytoots]

All I know is young children needed it for their teeth. their toothpaste has to contain fluoride so it must be good

[MaidOfStars]

I'm for it.

Why would he not listen to a dentist?

[ghostyslovesheep]

good - proven to prevent decay

it sadly also damaged my middle childs teeth very badly but I'd rather she HAD teeth, all be they stained than huge gaping holes

[wonkylegs]

The NHS has a good info page on this discussing risks and benefits
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fluoride/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[43cupsoftea]

I think it's a fine line thing. Too much is bad, too little is bad. But you definitely need it for healthy teeth. And I do know that some areas have more added to the water if there is not enough in the supply.

[Snozberry]

I always thought it was important but this is the second time today I've read on MN about non fluoride toothpaste. Off to read the NHS link.

If a high fluoride toothpaste was prescribed by a dentist why would your DH encourage them to use a non fluoride one? What makes him think he knows better?

[anon33]

I was passionately anti fluoride. There was no way I was going to poison my kids with it......fast forward 10 years and I am kicking myself in the decayed teeth

Two of my children were advised at 6 months to start with fluoride drops as they had a condition that made decay more likely. I ignored and at the age of 10 they have terrible teeth. The poor things have endured so many procedures; root canals, crowns, deep fillings etc. Because of the lack of fluoride it affected their adult teeth too. Despite scrupulous oral hygiene and a good diet they have the dentician of a child raised on coke.

In saying that, if your dd only has a small hole at 10 then you are obviously on top of things without the fluoride. But for those at "high risk" I would definitely advocate it.

[anon33]

Sorry just missed the high fluoride toothpaste prescription: If it is the standard one it costs £15 a tube therefore dentists do not prescribe it willy nilly, so he may have detected a weak enamel.

[lljkk]

All chemicals are dangerous in the wrong quantities.
Small amounts of fluoride on teeth save a lot of bother and pose negligible risks to health.
The statistics for tooth decay in fluoridated vs. non fluoridated areas are shocking. The numbers do something crazy like go from less than 0.5 cavity per child (under age X) to over 3 per child.

[LynseyPynsey]

Good good good! I work as a dental nurse and we have a programme where dental nurses go to local nurseries and schools to paint fluoride varnish on children's teeth, dentists also do it to all children at each check up. Since it was set up 5 or so years ago cavities have plummeted in primary school aged children.

[LynseyPynsey]

The programme is called childsmile not sure if it's local or national

[bearhug]

my DM was of the hippy generation who believed all chemicals were bad. We had herbal fluoride free toothpaste for years. Nearly all my molars have fillings now