Ingestion of fluoride from dentifrices by young children and fluorosis of the teeth-a literature review

Abstract

The ADA recommends the use of fluoridated dentifrices as soon as the primary teeth erupt, so as to reduce the incidence of dental caries. However, young children can ingest a significant amount of dentifrice during normal toothbrushing; this is a potential problem because the permanent teeth are at risk from fluorosis for the first seven years of life. Aims: the objective of this paper was to review the literature on the role of fluoride dentifrices in causing dental fluorosis. Methods: Search strategy: a search for literature was performed using MEDLINE, OVID with the key words fluorosis, dentifrice, ingestion, and children. The search was limited to English language publications. Subsequently, 31 articles were retrieved, additional relevant articles were collected from the references cited in the initially identified papers. Ultimately, 96 articles were retrieved for review. Conclusions: Fluoride, should be used with caution so that the benefits out-way the adverse affects. Oral health care providers need to systematically assess individual tooth brushing habits and emphasize the advantages of early use of a fluoridated dentifrice whilst still meeting the need for the prudent use of small quantities of dentifrice. Dentifrices with a low concentration of fluoride may be appropriate for young children who are considered to be at low caries risk and the risk of fluorosis is minimal for children who ingest this dentifrice; nevertheless, it appears that more research is still required on the therapeutic effects of fluoride dentifrices which contain fluoride at a low concentration.