No doubt, you have heard of the phenomenon called “fake news.” It’s when people misunderstand or misrepresent facts and news. Many times, it’s not done for any particular reason — it’s just that some situations are complex and hard to understand.
That’s true in dentistry when it comes to fluoride. Although it’s been used for decades to help improve your dental health, some fake news suggests it can be unhealthy for you.
Call our Honolulu, HI dental office today at 808-797-3680 to schedule a dental cleaning and dental exam. If needed, you can get a fluoride varnish at our office that can strengthen your teeth and protect your smile.
The Benefits Of Fluoride
The American Dental Association supports using fluoride in dental treatments, toothpaste, and drinking water. But how exactly is fluoride good for your teeth? Fluoride makes your teeth stronger in three ways.
- Research studies by scientists, dentists, and doctors have shown that fluoride makes your enamel more resistant to damage or cavities.
- With children, fluoride makes their adult teeth stronger even before they come through.
- Fluoride will even reverse microscopic amounts of damage to your enamel caused by tooth decay.
That’s why you need to call A Downtown Dental Group today and make your next appointment. A fluoride varnish will make your smile stronger and help you avoid cavities.
Where Fluoride Fake News Comes From
If you do a search online about fluoride, chances are you’ll find a few sites, videos, and memes claiming that fluoride is some kind of evil, man-made chemical hell-bent on hurting you. That’s not just untrue, it’s factually proven to be untrue. Then why do fake news like those exist?
- People are trying to be helpful but they do not understand chemistry. The science behind fluoride is complex, and most of us don’t have degrees in chemistry to help us understand it better. Many fake news sites are run by people who mean well but don’t understand it.
- Some people are trying to alarm you so they can sell you something. You know you’re on one of these sites when they’re warning you have to buy their book or supplements or you could be in danger.
4 Truths About Fluoride
It can be hard to separate fact from fiction, especially online. Here are four truths about fluoride that you need to know.
1. Fluoride is a mineral like potassium or iodine.
Be careful when people talk about “chemicals.” Just about anything can be a chemical, even water, so it’s not like anything that can be called a chemical is bad for you. Your body depends on several minerals to stay healthy, including potassium and iodine (salt). Although you do not need fluoride like you do those minerals, it’s still a natural mineral.
2. There are many different versions of fluoride.
The type of fluoride used by dentists (and in toothpaste or water) is fluorosilicic acid or sodium fluorosilicate.
However, there are many different forms of fluoride, so one version can be harmful. That does not mean all fluoride is harmful, just one version of it. Dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) is very different from carbon monoxide despite both containing oxygen.
3. Fluoride is found naturally in water.
Scientists first got the idea that fluoride can be good for you by studying people who drank fluoride naturally.
Because fluoride is a mineral that’s found in nature, it can get into wells and other sources of drinking water.
People who drank water with fluoride found naturally in it had much better teeth than those who did not. That’s why adding fluoride to our tap water is no big deal — natura already did that in places.
4. The amount of fluoride in water and toothpaste is safe.
A very big dose of almost anything can be dangerous. You can even get hurt by drinking too much plain water!
But the amount of fluoride you’ll take in the US is safe. A study once showed that taking 8.0 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water is harmful. In the US, your tap water will have around 0.7 milligrams. Unless you drink over 10 times the glasses of water each day, you’re fine.
Call us TODAY at 808-797-3680 or use our convenient online form to schedule your next dental cleaning and dental exam. Our highly trained dentists understand the truth about fluoride, and a fluoride varnish might be just what you need to keep those cavities away.