Fluoride is important when it comes to practicing good oral hygiene because it is great for preventing cavities and tooth decay. Despite its benefits, dentists recommend lower levels of fluoride intake for young kids because too much of it can be harmful.
Fluoride is a natural chemical derived from fluorine, an element found in the earth’s crust. Due to its ability to strengthen enamel and prevent tooth decay, tiny amounts of fluoride are added to the public drinking water in most communities. The American Dental Association also recommends using toothpaste that contains fluoride to brush your teeth.
According to the American Dental Association, babies need less fluoride than adults and older kids. Even though decades of research has shown that fluoride does not pose any serious health risks, dentists recommend limiting the fluoride intake for infants because too much of it can be harmful to their oral health.
Enamel fluorosis is a condition that causes discoloration or the streaking of permanent teeth, which will likely require cosmetic dentistry to fix. The condition does not affect adults, but it can affect your child if they ingest too much fluoride during early development.
The consumption of too much fluoride by a baby can lead to diarrhea, upset stomach, nausea and increased salivation. If your baby has any of these symptoms, you should take them to get immediate medical attention.
Even though fluoride is commonly found in tap water and oral health products, it can also be found in beverages like juices and in food processed with fluoridated water. Since there are no laws requiring fluoride to be listed as an ingredient in food and other beverages, you have to do your own research to find out if a product contains fluoride and how much fluoride it has in it.
Since it will be difficult to find out how much, if any, fluoride is in all the food and beverages your baby consumes, you can limit the baby’s fluoride intake by making a few changes to what the baby eats and drinks.
When you brush your baby’s teeth, you should use a very small amount of toothpaste, which will reduce the amount of fluoride the baby consumes if they swallow the toothpaste.
If your tap water contains fluoride, you can either breastfeed the child or feed the baby powdered formula and substitute the fluoridated water with de-ionized, distilled or purified water, all of which do not contain fluoride.
Fluoride is great for your teeth because it helps prevent tooth decay and strengthens your enamel. However, you should not let your baby consume too much of it. If you are not sure about how much fluoride you should give your baby, ask your dentist for more information about how you can limit your baby’s intake.
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