Is fluoride safe for you and your family?
Does fluoride cause cancer, kidney disease or osteoporosis?
Is fluoride effective at preventing tooth decay?
I'm Dr. Grant and welcome to the first episode of
Today we're talking about fluoride
and I really want you to know the answer
to these three questions.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring chemical and it's found in the rocks,
soil, water and even the air.
Fluoride is found naturally in water supplies across the globe
in varying amounts,
and when we talk about adding fluoride to the water,
we're talking about adding very low doses
so that it has the ideal anti-decay benefits.
Have you heard the phrase "too much of a good thing"?
Well it can apply to almost everything.
So if you have too much fluoride, that's not good.
Fluorosis, which is varying degrees of white and brown spots on your teeth,
can occur in children when they're exposed to too much fluoride.
In extreme cases, like those in parts of China
where the level of fluoride that naturally occurs
in the water is way too high,
it has been shown to lead to lowered intelligence in children.
So, let me paint this picture in another way.
Imagine you have a headache.
You take a couple of Panadol tablets,
you lay down, you start to feel better.
Suppose instead you take one hundred panadol tablets.
What would happen?
Your headache may become the least of your worries
as you are rushed to hospital to have your stomach pumped.
Some people out there are worried that low doses of fluoride can cause things
like cancer, kidney disease and many other problems.
Well we have the perfect case study here in Queensland.
Queensland didn't have fluoride added to the water
until the last few years, whereas in most other states, the major cities had
fluoride in the water in the 60's and 70's.
The results?
We simply do not see that other states
have increased level of diseases
when compared to Queensland or
in other areas of the world that have fluoridated water supplies.
So rest assured when water supplies are fluoridated to the ideal level
it's perfectly safe for you and your family.
Tooth enamel is the outermost layer of your teeth,
and it's even stronger than your bones!
It's primarily made up of calcium and phosphate in a crystal
structure called hydroxyapatite.
When you eat anything that contains sugar,
whether it's chocolate or noodles,
even bread,
the decay-causing bacteria in your mouth
feast on the sugar and produce acid.
This acid attacks your enamel and causes calcium to leach out.
Fortunately, saliva contains calcium and other goodies that
help to neutralize the acid
and to replace the minerals lost during this acid attack.
Now when you drink tap water that has fluoride in it or brush with
a fluoridated toothpaste, the fluoride gets into your saliva.
The fluoride then gets incorporated into your enamel
and forms a much stronger compound called "Fluoroapatite",
which is more resistant to the acid attack.
The answer is that individual needs will vary
but here's a good place to start.
I recommend that you drink tap water, not bottled water,
as it contains the ideal level of fluoride of
around one part per million molecules,
which is a very low dose.
I recommend that adults use a fluoride-containing toothpaste
with a concentration of fluoride of 1,450 parts per million.
If you are an adult with an increased risk of suffering from tooth decay,
I may recommend that you use a toothpaste with a higher concentration
of fluoride in it,
like this one, from Colgate.
Dentists can also apply a professional fluoride treatment
which has an even higher concentration of fluoride in it,
which is even better at preventing tooth decay.
If you think you're at risk of developing tooth decay,
or you just haven't been to the dentist for a while
contact us at Method Dental.
That way we can assess your risk for
developing tooth decay
and tailor a preventative program just for you
so that you can be cavity free.
So thanks for watching "Prevent"
and if you found this episode helpful
please like and share this video
because the more people we can reach
the more teeth we can save.