Kids cavities but no fluoride .... What works?

[Anonymous]

Sugar-free xylitol gum after meals, if you can't brush. I think there is increasing evidence that not only does chewing stimulate saliva, which helps remove food residue from teeth, but the xylitol may inhibit bacterial growth.
We taught my 3 yo chew gum just so we could get him chewing xylitol gum after meals or snacks when out of the house.

[Anonymous]

Never had a cavity. At the age of 24 decided fluoride was bad for me. In one year--3 cavities with otherwise same brushing/flossing habits.

[Anonymous]

I'm a family dentist. I see patients day and night. Here's my take for what it's worth. Oral hygiene is the most important aspect. Bad hygiene = bad teeth 90% of the time. Some people have good genes and CAN get lucky---but here's the thing, for the 90% that don't get lucky, Fl2 (fluoride) makes a difference. I see it all the time. Some parents say no fl2 at hygiene visits b/c of cost, others b/c of what they read on the internet. On average, I see about 25 hygiene patients a day, of which 2-3 are kids each day. The kids who have cavities are always the ones #1 that don't brush, #2, drink bottled (no fl2) water, and #3 whose parents refuse fl2 treatments.

Too much fl2 is bad, but no fl2 is detrimental. Here's a anecdotal story for you as well----my wife is one of three siblings, all grew up with well water, and i'm one of three, all grew up with fl2. My wife and one of her siblings have cavities and soft teeth. Her only sibling that doesn't have cavities spent age 0-4 in a city with fl2(permanent teeth start developing at birth). In my family, neither me nor my siblings has had a cavity---no I take that back--one sibling did have one b/c of an enamel defect---but that's it. We are in our 30s-early 40's now. Our childhood drink was either milk or water, with the occasional soda. Remember, milk can cause caries b/c it dissolves into protein and sugars, so one should not let their children go to sleep without brushing, or at the very least rinsing, to remove the milk from the saliva.

One more piece of anecdotal evidence---I have two offices---one office in virginia and another near spring valley. The virginia patients that drink tap water usually don't have many cavities, even if their hygiene isn't spectacular. The spring valley patients (who all drink bottled water and cook with bottled water b/c of the munitions) always have something going on in their mouth.

There have been many studies showing that one of the best public health measures of the previous century was fl2. I wholeheartedly agree.

If you don't buy into the research---do the test yourself. Call an oral surgeon. Ask him for five teeth with no cavities. Place one tooth in tap water with fl2 and a good amount of sugar. Place one tooth in coca cola. Place one tooth in bottled water with no fl2 and a good amount of sugar. Keep the other exposed to air and with no water. Keep the last tooth in water with fl2 and no sugar.

Wait one week. After one week the coca cola tooth will dissolve. The air exposed tooth will seem brittle and show cracks and seem like it will crumble if you drop it. The two teeth in water and sugar will look the same. The tooth in just water will look the same as well. Wait two months. The tooth in water and sugar(no fl2) will show signs of dissolving, albeit slightly. The tooth in water and sugar and with fl2 will not show signs of dissolving. The tooth in water with fl2 and no sugar will not show signs of dissolving. Wait a year, the one in sugar with fl2 will not look anywhere nearly as bad as the one in sugar without fl2. The tooth in just water with fl2 will look the best.

I've done the experiment myself, and this is what I see. Of course, while you're doing the experiment---trust me on the kids----give them some fl2.

[Anonymous]

My three year old daughter swallows the flouride toothpaste! What are the side effects?