Our 78748 Dentist Shares Important Facts about Fluoride to Fight the Myths

There have been countless myths about the dangers of fluoride, but the opposite is true! Fluoride has been used as an active ingredient in toothpastes for many years due to the beneficial minerals that work to strengthen your smile. Don't be fooled - fluoride is your friend, not your enemy! Our 78748 area dentist breaks down more harmful myths and shares helpful facts to educate our patients.

Fluoride and Water

Fluoride occurs naturally in drinking water without additions needing to be made at all. Fluoride is added to drinking water because the naturally occurring amount of fluoride in the water isn’t enough to help strengthen our teeth and bones.

Strengthening Enamel

Your enamel is the outer exposed surfaces of your teeth, which protects the inside of your tooth that contains the roots and nerves connected to the rest of your body. Once the enamel is cracked or broken, the roots of your tooth are exposed, leading you to tooth pain. Fluoride helps you by strengthening your enamel both when you brush and when you drink water.

Fluorosis

When you’re a child, you’re taught to spit out your toothpaste, not to swallow it, because of fluorosis. When appropriately used in products, fluoride is entirely harmless, but ingesting too much fluoride, just like any other vitamin or mineral, can have consequences in the form of fluorosis. Fluorosis is incredibly rare and usually happens when small children get ahold of a tube of toothpaste. You should always follow the guidelines on toothpaste use for both adults and children.

Fluoride isn’t a danger to your health or the health of your loved ones when used as intended. If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of fluoride, we encourage you to ask our 78748 area dentist, Dr. Sharma, at Grand Oaks Dentistry! Simply give our office a call at (512) 291-1666 and our front desk staff will happily assist you in scheduling a consultation.