First lets ask ourselves:
What is Fluoride? - It is a trace mineral naturally found in small amounts in certain foods. Fluoride helps build strong teeth and bones.
What is a trace mineral? - An essential micro-mineral that the human body must get from food.
Where can we get our daily Fluoride? - All ground and surface water in the United States contains naturally occurring fluoride. - The fluoride level that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends to prevent tooth decay is 0.7 parts of fluoride per million parts (ppm) of water, and not more than 2.0ppm to avoid mild fluorosis (slight mottling off tooth enamel).
What is fluorosis? - A condition that causes changes in the appearance of tooth enamel. It typically occurs when too much fluoride is consumed in children 8 years and younger. Very rare to see in the USA.
Mild Fluorosis typically shows as white spots on tooth surfaces. Fluorosis does NOT affect dental function.
It is important to keep our teeth strong and healthy, especially because we only have 1 set of adult teeth in our lifetime.
Consuming too little Fluoride in our water and/or diet increases the risk of cavities.
On the left is a smile full of cavities; the black spots on the teeth.
Cavities lead to pain and infection.
There is no need for our children to have to go through this pain if we have preventative measures that can help arrest cavities.
A beautiful smile is achieved with a healthy lifestyle.
A healthy lifestyle includes consuming those essential trace minerals, like fluoride, that our body needs to stay healthy and strong.
Below are some helpful links to read about Fluoride and if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to help answer them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ami Shah
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