Toothpaste, choose with or without Fluoride?

When you are choosing toothpaste, do you know if you should buy one with or without fluoride? For example children under 3 years of age should not use toothpaste with fluoride and children under 6 years old should not use adult toothpaste.

To much or to little Fluoride (referred to as F) affects the teeth and the skeletal system.

Too little Fluor can create poor enamel, easy pitting and cavities. Too much fluor will cause cloudy enamel, white spots, yellow spots on the teeth and overall weakening. Excess Fluor in the body can also impair the functioning of the thyroid gland, causing brain damage, and the birth of children with "down" syndrome in women. Scary huh?

So how much is enough? According to water standards, Fluoride would be best within 0.7 to 1.5 mg / lt.  But in nature, there are areas where the content in water is to low. Not far away, but right here in Vietnam. Several studies have shown that in Vietnam there are very poor areas of fluoride in the water such as the Mekong Delta and Hanoi. Initial analysis of some water sources in Cuu Long Delta shows that the fluoride content is very poor, below the level of hygienic safety, the average content is only about 0.02 - 0.6 mg / lt.  In areas that have a content of fluoride in the water below 0.1 mg / lt, there is a potential risk of fluoride deficiency in the environment.

Fluoride content in natural water sources in Hanoi is also very low, only about 0.1 - 0.3 mg / lt. Meanwhile, some localities related to fluoride poisoning in the recent South Central provinces have been noticed. These areas are scattered in Phu Yen and abundant in Khanh Hoa (Cam Ranh, Ban Ninh, Ninh Hoa, Khanh Vinh ...), there are villages called 'no smiles' due to broken teeth as a result of too much fluoride in the water, with a ratio from 1.8 mg - 9.4 mg per liter!

Fluoride in the environment, natural born and man-made (mostly natural sources, through hydrothermal geological processes involving magma rocks, ancient and modern volcanic activity, movements of groundwater and alkaline hot mineral water, weathering on rocks and mines containing fluor). The wells near Apatite mine are particularly at risk of excess fluoride. Adding fluoride is much easier than removing fluoride from water.

Now that you are a bit more aware of the presence and important influence of fluoride in life, the question is how much is suitable for your age and environment.

Fluoride is absorbed in small amounts into the body through the food chain, but mostly through water. For Fluoride-deficient areas, this micronutrient supplement becomes important to address tooth decay. The idea of ​​adding calcium fluoride to toothpaste types was therefore started in the 1890’s. Over the years, studies have helped fluoride toothpaste to become popular and bring remarkable effects. For adult toothpaste, the maximum F ratio is 1500 ppm

Children toothpaste (over 3 years old), the rate of fluoride should be in the range of 200-450 ppm, do not let children use adult toothpaste for a long time, because there will be excess fluoride that can damage children's teeth. For the situations with an excess of fluoride as mentioned above, you should not ‘put oil on the fire’ by using fluoride-containing toothpaste.

Perhaps over 90% of Vietnamese consumers do not pay attention to the YES / or NO question of fluoride in the toothpaste they usually buy, and if you have children, you probably do not pay much attention to how much is suitable for kids age.

Hopefully this short article will help you to choose the best toothpaste for your family. A great choice are DENTTABS where you can choose with or without fluoride. Besides that they are absolutely natural and give many more benefits and without fluoride they are also suitable for kids under the age of 6 years.