Importance of Fluoride in Toothpaste
There are a lot of minerals which are known for being beneficial for health. For instance, you may have heard about calcium. It is the mineral which is thought to be the vital ingredient for bone health. Iron and zinc are known for bring helpful for immune system. There is another mineral which has huge benefits for the health of teeth. This mineral is fluoride. Fluoride has amazing capability to prevent and reduce cavities and other tooth infections, thus playing important role in the betterment of oral and overall health. Now, this mineral is being added in the toothpastes manufactured around the world.
What does fluoride do?
There are two ways fluoride can help your teeth to remain strong. When an individual’s teeth are in the process of growing, application of fluoride based toothpaste can strengthen tooth enamel from very start. After the teeth are fully grown, this application of fluoride through toothpaste, mouthwash, and tap water helps teeth remain strong. This strength of enamel allows teeth to fight off bacteria and acidic reactions, keeping the infections like tooth decay, cavities and gum diseases at bay. Fluoride doesn’t only help in maintaining strength of enamel but it also re-mineralizes the enamel at some extent.
Reason it is added in toothpaste
About three quarters of public drinking water in US is fluoridated. It means that you are most likely getting good amount of fluoride on daily basis. Nevertheless, there are many people who do not get fluoride in drinking water or they have some other reasons for not drinking fluoridated water. For such people, fluoride supplementation is a good option.
One thing worth mentioning here is that fluoridated water is not always appropriately rich in fluoride, and that fluoride supplements are not for everyone. In this scenario, one may wonder if there could be any other solution which would help inn providing ample amount of fluoride to the teeth. Well, it is possible with the help of fluoride toothpaste. Stats by ADA suggest that fluoride-based toothpastes have led to major decrease in the number of cases related to tooth decay and cavities. As a matter of fact, fluoride is not considered as a standard ingredient to be added in the toothpaste.
One of the reasons fluoride toothpaste is more effective as compared to other fluoride products is that fluoride toothpaste is usually left applied on the teeth for longer durations. It means that teeth remained exposed to fluoride for longer periods of time.
Picking fluoride toothpaste is fairly easy. You just need to look at the ingredient table of the toothpaste in order to know whether or not the toothpaste has fluoride in its composition. You can also ask your dentist to know about the best fluoride toothpaste you can go for.