What Fluoride Can Do For Your Teeth

what fluoride can do for your teeth

What Fluoride Can Do For Your Teeth

benefits of fluoride treatments

Fluoride treatments are one of the dental tools that have been used for decades by dentists to help people enjoy peak dental health. So, what are fluoride treatments and how does this mineral work? Read on and learn what the experts at Green Dental Care in Parker CO have shared about fluoride and dental health.

What is Fluoride?

Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust. It can be found in oceans, soil and other water bodies. This mineral can occur in a gaseous, solid or liquid form. Our doctors explain that nearly a century ago, it was observed that fluoride could help rebuild the enamel on teeth once demineralization occurred. This discovery was so profound that dentists started offering fluoride treatments to their patients as a way of increasing resistance to tooth decay and strengthening teeth.

What is a Fluoride Treatment?

Your Parker CO dentist is likely to give you a fluoride treatment when you visit for your routine dental cleanings. The treatment is applied as a highly concentrated foam, rinse, gel or even varnish.

Dr. Green and Dr. Ionescu can use a swab, tray, mouthwash or brush to apply the fluoride on your teeth.

This quick treatment delivers a lot more fluoride to your teeth than what is typically found in your toothpaste or in the municipal water supply. Fluoride treatments need just a few minutes to be applied. However, the dentist at Green Dental Care is likely to advise you to refrain from eating or drinking anything for at least 30 minutes after the fluoride treatment. This interval is intended to allow your teeth to absorb the fluoride sufficiently so that you can enjoy its protective benefits.

When you visit Green Dental Care, reveal your full history (medications you are taking and dental issues you have been facing, for example) so that the dental care professional can select the most appropriate fluoride treatment for your needs.

How Fluoride Protects Your Teeth

While some people may think that fluoride treatments are primarily intended for children, this is far from the truth. Everyone, including adults, can benefit from getting periodic fluoride treatments.

For kids whose teeth are still developing, Dr. Green explains that fluoride helps harden the enamel during the formative stages. This is when the teeth are most susceptible to decay due to weak enamel. The fluoride hardens the teeth and makes them better able to resist acid damage.

Dr. Lesson, a dentist in St. Petersburg FL, adds that fluoride boosts remineralization. This is a process through which leached minerals are restored to the structure of the teeth. Demineralization (the loss of minerals like calcium from the teeth) is normally accelerated by the action of plaque-causing bacteria. Fluoride helps to accelerate the remineralization process.

Fluoride also helps reduce the size of tiny holes in your teeth called fissures. By filling most of those gaps, fluoride prevents food particles and oral bacteria from lodging in those fissures. In this way, the experts at Green Dental Care assert that you will be less prone to cavities and other dental issues.

Using Fluoride at Home

The fluoride treatments administered our doctors need to be supplemented by adequate fluoride use at home. This can take the form of using fluoride toothpaste to brush your teeth at least twice each day. Another way is by drinking fluoridated water (instead of bottled water that may not have any fluoride in it).

There is only one place to seek help if you aren’t sure whether you are getting as much fluoride as you need. Your Parker CO dentist at Green Dental Care is best to advise you on your fluoride intake since he knows your dental health and the risks you face as you seek to maintain peak oral health. Contact Green Dental Care today for answers to all your questions about fluoride or any other aspect of your oral health.

 

The Benefits of Fluoride Treatments

The Benefits of Fluoride Treatments

benefits of fluoride treatments

Fluoride is a naturally-occurring mineral that has been discovered to have protective effects on teeth. This substance can be put on your teeth as a gel, mouth rinse or varnish. Once on the surface of your teeth, it soaks into the tubules (tiny holes) in order to kill any bacteria there and strengthen the enamel of your teeth. In this article, you’ll discover why you need to get fluoride treatments at Green Dental Care at least twice each year.

Why Fluoride Treatments are Good for You

Remineralization. Fluoride treatments help to restore minerals to tooth surfaces that have had these minerals eroded by acidic food and drinks. Bacterial activity also erodes tooth surfaces, and regular fluoride treatments at Green Dental Care can help to restore those minerals so that the teeth retain or regain their strength.

Prevents cavities. Fluoride also helps to combat tooth decay in both children and adults. We asked our friend, Dr. Ben Kacos, a dentist in Shreveport, LA, about the benefits of fluoride. Dr. Kacos explains that fluoride goes in and kills any bacteria which is lodged in the tubules of your teeth. The fluoride also fills the tiny microscopic holes formed in the initial stages of tooth decay. This prevents the decay from progressing into the deeper layers of the teeth.

Reducing the cost of dental care. The modest fee that you pay for a fluoride treatment at Green Dental Care in Parker, CO pays off massively in the savings you make on dental care costs. The protective effects of the fluoride on your teeth mean that you will have fewer caries or tooth decay, and that means that the money you would have spent on treatment for these conditions is saved.

Preserves your perfect smile. As already mentioned, fluoride protects your teeth from various problems, such as gum recession due to gingivitis and teeth discoloration since the fluoride fills the tubules and makes it harder for stains to form. Regular fluoride treatments at Green Dental Care, therefore, increase the odds of having your beautiful smile for your entire life.

Preventing teeth sensitivity. As enamel is eroded due to bacterial activity and acidic eats and drinks, the soft dentine is exposed and your teeth can become sensitive each time you consume hot or cold substances. Fluoride gets into the tiny pits formed in your teeth and prevents the softer dentine from being exposed, hence averting sensitivity.

How Often Should I Get a Fluoride Treatment?

For most patients, Dr. Chris Green recommends that they get a fluoride treatment once every six months. However, the frequency of treatments can vary depending on a variety of factors. For instance, Parker, CO dentists recommend that people who face a higher risk of caries, such as those with poor oral hygiene habits and those with limited or no saliva production, get fluoride treatments once every three months. For some people, even a single fluoride treatment in 12 months may suffice.

The exact frequency of fluoride treatments that you need will, therefore, be determined after Dr. Chris Green examines your teeth and recommends the best frequency of treatments for you.

How Are the Fluoride Treatments Done?

The most common way through which a fluoride treatment is administered at Green Dental Care is by “painting” it on the surface of your teeth. This layer of fluoride stays on your teeth for 4-6 hours before you can brush your teeth to remove the excess fluoride.

Fluoride treatments can also be administered by the use of a tray which is fitted onto your teeth for the required duration. Your dentist in Parker, CO will then remove the tray and ask you to brush your teeth.

Alternatively, the Parker, CO dentist may give you a fluoride mouthwash and ask you to rinse your teeth with it for a few seconds after which you spit out the liquid. After a set interval, you can brush your teeth once the fluoride has penetrated the surface of your teeth.

How Soon Can I Eat After a Fluoride Treatment?

Dr. Chris Green may ask you to wait for about 30 minutes before you eat anything. This precaution is intended to prevent what you eat from washing away the recently applied fluoride on your teeth.

However, it is also possible to eat right away after you have had a fluoride treatment as long as you don’t consume anything very hot or sticky. The hot food or drinks may melt the fluoride from your teeth, while the sticky eats can adhere to the fluoride and remove it from the surface of your teeth.

As you can see, fluoride treatments are simple, yet packed with benefits for your oral health. Contact Green Dental Care today if you haven’t had a fluoride treatment in more than six months. Our friendly staff will clean your teeth and administer this protective treatment so that you can enjoy a lifetime of good dental health.