First let me be clear: I’m not a crazy conspiracy person (…on this) I just don’t rely on a municipal well. As far as I know adding fluoride to the private well at my houses is not a thing, good or bad. I did drink municipal water for two years when I lived on campus in college.

That said, is fluoride a benefit to adults or just children?

When I was a kid I got fluoride treatments at the dentist, but then aged out. I’ve never had a cavity in forty years, but I’d like to keep it that way. Should I still be doing it?

Also no, I’m not using the internet as a substitute for a dentist, just my next dental appointment is in four months. TIA

  • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 months ago

    Also, wish I had a link to the article, but I was reading about how whether you “have” a cavity depends on your dentist’s interpretation of the x-rays and their philosophy about treatment. Some dentists will see a light area and say “let’s fill that before it gets worse” and others will note it and see how things develop. It was actually pretty alarming because sounds like professional standards for dentistry are looser than some other areas of medicine, and the description rang true for some of the dentists I’ve seen.

    • pb42184@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      6 months ago

      This is definitely a thing. I mentioned no cavities, but I have had some “slight decalcification we might want to address before it gets worse” that then got better on their own.

      • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        6 months ago

        Yeah, I would much prefer if someone framed it that way than “you have decay, let’s schedule an appointment for a filling”

    • stoly@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      6 months ago

      It’s notable that medical journals went evidence based in the 70s but only some dental journals made the same switch.