Some people may wonder if it’s safe to give babies and children fluoride. It’s recommended, and there are many benefits of this, and it can help with preventing the decay of teeth, and also keeping them strong, and is also a great way to prevent cavities as well. It’s important though to understand that you must use this properly though.
How to Use it with children
When the teeth start to emerge, floured applied to your enamel helps harden it so that it resists decay and activities. There are a few ways for you to introduce this. First, there is toothpaste. For children under the age of 3, their caregivers will do this with a small amount of toothpaste about the size of a rice grain. For those ages 3 to 6, it’s Abou the size of a pea to use.
Mouthwash is another one, and you can have this if the child is over the age of 6, since you don’t want to risk swallowing any of this. Fluoride supplements are good too. Your doctor can prescribe them as a type of alternative for these children that aren’t living in places where there’s enough fluoride in the water.
There is also topical fluorides that can be used. They are varnishes and gels that children can have during checkups. Varnishes are much easier for younger children, so it can actually be applied at a younger age. This is something that helps to prevent tooth decay; however, you should prevent fluorosis in the child by having them spit out the toothpaste when they’re able to. This can actually cause enamel pitting or discoloration if the child swallows it.
How does it help with cavities.
Cavities can be prevented since it helps to keep the enamel strong and resists the acids that are made from bacteria when you have sugar. Children are of course more sensitive to problems with cavities due to their baby teeth not being as strong. It can actually be quite sensitive, both on the baby and permanent teeth. When they do breakthroughs that are, the enamel isn’t fully hardened yet, but fluoride works to combine the minerals with the enamel to create something called fluorapatite, which makes the enamels a lot stronger when fighting acids and whatnot. Fluoride is a mineral that’s natural, and it’s important to definitely get it.
Most children get this through water, since water is usually filled with fluoride and has been done in a way that’s safe and effective for seven decades. The CDC said themselves that fluoridation of the water is one of the biggest achievements publicly since the 20th century began, and it offers an easy way to provide fluoride to the community.
The important thing to understand though is that not all water contains. It. Pre-packaged water bottles may have this, but if they don’t, it can definitely be a problem. You should make sure too that if you have water that’s not always palatable, that you make sure to have a fluoride filter on this for the best results too.
Fluoride is really good, and it is safe for kids to have. However, just make sure that if they are going to have this, that they don’t consume too much, or swallow this. A little bit goes a long way with all of this, and for many people, this is something that’s not only good for the child right now with the developing teeth but is also good down the line too if the child needs this kind of treatment as well too.
Mouth Health 