Children should brush their teeth twice every day, in the morning and before bed. It is essential to help your child maintain proper dental hygiene to avoid dental problems. Various dental treatments can help your child’s dental health. It is essential to understand whether your pediatric dentist can use fluoride treatment on your child.

When you or your child eats or drinks, the bacteria in your mouth consume the starch and sugars. They also release acids that erode your enamel, break it down, and lead to tooth decay. Fluoride helps prevent this by penetrating the enamel, strengthening it, and building its resistance to acidity. Fluoride usage can also reverse the early development stages of tooth decay.

Fluoride redeposits minerals back to the enamel in a process called remineralization. The process helps teeth enamels stripped of minerals by acids.

Fluoride is essential for children who still have their baby teeth. It incorporates into their developing teeth. As a result, when the permanent teeth start erupting, they grow with less risk of getting cavities. For teenagers and adults, fluoride remineralizes and hinders the production of acid. Put simply, the use of fluoride helps prevent cavities for everyone.

Fluoride is safe for all children when used in the correct dosage. Fluoridated drinking water is endorsed by organizations such as the World Health Organization. Excessive fluoride leads to fluorosis in children. It results in pitting or white spots on the enamel, although such cases are very mild. 

It is essential to talk to your pediatric dentist if you become concerned about the amount of fluoride your child gets. They can advise you of the appropriate dosage to keep their teeth strong.

Your pediatric dentist will apply fluoride to your child’s teeth. There are other options where the child can bite into a fluoride tray. They can also paint some varnish on the teeth after a dental cleaning. The entire process is painless and takes a few minutes.
 

Your child can also benefit from other fluoride sources such as tap water, mouthwash, or toothpaste. You should use a smear of toothpaste with fluoride on the first tooth that erupts in your baby’s mouth. The amount increases when they get to three years old.
 

Children can get fluoride from different sources, but fluoride treatments at the dentist are necessary. Most kids lack the appropriate amount of fluoride, increasing their risk of tooth decay as their teeth develop.

Children should get their fluoride treatments at least once a year if they do not have a high tooth decay risk. Your dentist may talk to you about your child’s fluoride intake during their first dental visit when they turn one.

Fluoride treatments should continue until your child reaches 16. Most teenagers and adults opt to continue using it as it is effective while teeth develop. Some people prefer to continue the usage throughout their lives.