Dental caries: Do fluoride toothpaste, mouthwashes or gels reduce more tooth decay?
Tooth decay or dental caries is a common health problem in children. It has been known for a long time that fluoride can help strengthen tooth enamel and therefore help prevent tooth decay. That is why it is common for toothpastes to contain a small amount of fluoride. Fluoride occurs naturally too, in tea for example. In some areas, fluoride is included in the community's water supply.
Fluoride can also have disadvantages for children. If they swallow too much fluoride it can have a negative impact on their permanent teeth from a condition called fluorosis. The typical sign of fluorosis is white patches on the teeth.
With this in mind, experts have considered what the best protection for the teeth could be. Is it enough for a child to brush their teeth every day with fluoride toothpaste? Or do they need to use a fluoride mouthwash or even go to the dentist regularly to have fluoride gel or varnish applied?
To answer these questions, researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration compared the 15 trials that have compared different fluoride products with each other. Fluoride tablets were not included in these studies. Most of the trials compared the use of ordinary fluoride toothpaste with a particular other form of fluoride. This means that there have not been enough direct comparisons between varnishes and gels to enable us to know what differences there might be between them.
The most important finding of the Cochrane review was that fluoride toothpastes appear to prevent tooth decay just as well as mouthwashes or gels. Nor is there strong evidence that fluoride varnishes applied by the dentist are better than toothpaste, mouthwashes or gels.
The studies did not provide enough information about adverse effects such as fluorosis. This makes it difficult to fully weigh up the pros and cons of the different types of fluoride.
- Created (German version): February 14th 2006 10:00
- Last update: April 17th 2006 14:22
- History: Show list
- Source: Marinho VCC, Higgins JPT, Sheiham A, Logan S. One topical fluoride (toothpastes, or mouthrinses, or gels, or varnishes) versus another for preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 1 of 2004. (Cochrane Database)