With summer finally approaching, here’s yet another reason to pour yourself a tall glass of ice water. Students attending dental school in the late ‘70’s were taught that most middle class patients would lose many of their teeth and require dentures before they even reached their 60th birthday. Today, most middle class people keep their teeth into their 80s. Needless to say, that’s a vast improvement in the fight against tooth decay. Many dental practitioners believe one of the main reasons was adding fluoride to drinking water.
Fluoridation – the practice of adding recommended levels of fluoride compounds in community drinking water – has been recognized by esteemed health organizations as safe and effective for its dentalcare benefits. These include The World Health Organization, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association. Along with more than a hundred other health organizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named it one of the 10 great achievements in public health of the 20th century.
Like fortifying vitamin D to milk or calcium to orange juice, fluoridation is a means to provide a supplemental health benefit. Fluoride is naturally in groundwater and the oceans, though not enough to prevent cavities. Even today, with fluoride readily available in many toothpastes, adding fluoride in community water prevents at least 25% of tooth decay in children and adults.
Still, as much as fluoride fortified tap water can help, regular dental checkups and proper dental care are essential. It’s more important than ever to have a dental plan from your association and AMBA. Learn more online at www.AMBAdentalvision.com or call (866)979-0497.
https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/faqs/community-water-fluoridation.html
