Is Professional Fluoride Treatment Recommended For Children?
Fluoride is a mineral compound that enhances strong teeth and reduces cavities in the teeth. It is a trusted treatment for teeth that dental professionals use to reinforce the teeth and is very effective for people at risk of having cavities.
Fluoride Treatment Procedure
The dentist will have to clean the patient’s teeth with fluoride, which could be in the form of a gel, varnish, foam, or mouth rinse. It is usually applied to the teeth with a brush or swab and takes about 30 minutes for the teeth to absorb it.
After treatment patient should avoid fatty foods and beverages to avoid messing up the effectiveness of the treatment.
After completing the treatment and healing phase, patients should drink Water, tea, infant formula, and fishbone as they all contain fluoride, which is essential for the body.
How Often Should One Get Fluoride Treatment?
American Dental Association advises that you either get a professional fluoride treatment once in three months, twice a year, or once yearly. This is dependent on the state of your teeth and gum as it helps determine your oral health or if you are at the risk of having cavities. The dentist will examine the mouth to decide your oral health and the pattern of fluoride treatment that will be best.
A day to 3 years old requires 0.5-1.5 milligram of fluoride daily.
4-6 years old require 1-2.5 milligram of fluoride daily.
7-10 years old require 1.5-2.5 milligrams of fluoride daily.
Adults and Adolescents require 1.5-4 milligrams of fluoride daily.
It would help if you avoided these habits to keep the teeth safe from cavities:
- High sugar intake
- Consistent drug abuse
- Smoking or alcohol use
- Unhealthy eating habits
- Dehydrated or dried mouth
- Poor oral hygiene
- Lack of professional oral care
- Weak enamel
Is Professional Fluoride Treatment Recommended For Children?
Children from 3 to 6 years of age should be strictly supervised while using fluoride teeth brushing. The fluoride should be the size of a grain of rice. This should be added to their toothpaste to brush their teeth. They must not swallow any of the fluoride and toothpaste mixtures.
Benefits Of Fluoride
- It helps to improve the way our body and teeth use minerals like phosphate and calcium for repairs.
- It reverses and terminates the growth of cavities by fighting the bacteria in the mouth.
- When fluoride treatment is applied to the teeth, it goes into the teeth structure and makes the enamel strong enough to withstand bacteria that cause cavities.
- When children are continually treated with fluoride, they might never have cavities for life.
- Fluoride treatment also helps to prevent toothache, gum disease, and premature loss of teeth.
- Fluoride treatment helps to keep your kid’s mouths healthy.
- With fluoride treatment, you can avoid spending time and money on unnecessary dental restorative solutions.
Side Effects Of Fluoride Treatment
- Fluoride taken in high quantities can be harmful.
- It can cause discoloration of the teeth when abused. This is called fluorosis, and it is widespread in children less than six years of age.
- Abuse or high dose of fluoride supplement pills can result in death and should be kept away from children.
Inputting fluoride treatment into your child’s oral hygiene can be a great decision as long as you put it in the correct quantity considering the effects it can have on your child if wrongly used. Before fixing fluoride treatment into your child’s hygiene, you must talk to your podiatrist and discuss your reasons. Your pediatrician will then fix up the required dosage for the optimum result.
Suppose you do not have a personal pediatrician. In that case,n, you can search up a pediatric dentist near me to get a local listing of expert pediatrist or pediatric clinics near you and book an appointment. However, if you live in Roanoke, you can get an emergency pediatric dentist in Roanoke to get a quick appointment. You can book an appointment with Dr Cristelle Rodriguez, a Roanoke pediatric dentist, to help you go about all you need to know before adding fluoride treatment to your child’s hygiene.