What is fluoride?
Raise a glass to fluoridated water
Water fluoridation is a proven community benefit – it helps reduce cavities, tooth loss, and tooth decay, straight from the tap! Keep reading to learn how it works, other benefits of hydration, and how you can make sure you’re getting enough fluoride to keep your smile healthy.
Nearly 73% of people in the U.S served by community water systems have access to fluoridated water.1
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral released from rocks into the soil, water, and air. All water contains some fluoride naturally, but not at a high enough level to prevent tooth decay.
Fluoridated water protects your teeth
-
Fluoridated water protects your teeth by keeping a low level of fluoride in your mouth during the day, in addition to the fluoride you get from toothpaste and mouthwash.
-
Fluoride strengthens tooth enamel.
-
The results are clear – fluoridated water reduces tooth decay by up to 25% among children and adults.2
Proper hydration improves your health
Beyond the fluoride, drinking water helps your oral health by washing away leftover food, preventing dry mouth, and is a much healthier option than sugary and acidic beverages. Proper hydration also provides a boost to your overall health and well-being. Drink more water to:
-
Increase your energy level
-
Reduce headaches
-
Help your body regulate temperature
-
Improve your skin, heart, and kidney health
-
Maintain healthy digestion
To experience those benefits, a good rule of thumb is to drink the one third of your body weight in ounces each day. To give a couple of examples – if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d want to drink 50 ounces of water each day. Someone weighing 210 pounds would want to aim for 70 ounces of water each day.
Are there any risks to using fluoride?
Exposure to too much fluoride during childhood, when teeth are developing, can result in mild dental fluorosis. This consists of barely noticeable white streaks or specks on the tooth enamel. The health of the tooth is not affected and indeed is less likely to decay.
To avoid dental fluorosis, the American Dental Association recommends the following guidelines for brushing children’s teeth:
-
For children age 3 and younger, only use a rice-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste to brush your child’s teeth.
-
For ages 3 to 6, use a small pea-sized amount.
-
Don’t use fluoride mouthwash until the child is fully able to rinse and spit, usually when they are around 6 to 8 years old.
-
When your child is old enough, try to get them to spit out any excess toothpaste – but swallowing the small amount is not harmful.
Once your child’s teeth are fully developed, around age 8 or 9, they are no longer at risk for fluorosis.
Schoolchildren in communities with fluoridated water have an average of 2 fewer decayed teeth than non-fluoridated communities.3
Are there any risks to using fluoride?
If your community has 5,000 people or fewer, you may not have fluoridated water – and it’s extremely unlikely in communities under 1,000. You can check whether your water is fluoridated on the CDC’s website.
If you live in a small community that does not have fluoridated water, speak with your dentist about alternative methods to get the proper amount of fluoride. They could recommend a drop, tablet, lozenge, or other fluoride product.