As an adult do you really need to do a fluoride treatment every 6 months? I understand having it done as a child is prolly important. Isn’t there fluoride in our tap water and bottled water that can be a VERY good substitute? My doc charges $25 and it’s not covered by insurance. So it isn’t a big deal financially. But a little annoyance to have that goopy mess for half a day. Thoughts?
There are people that need fluoride treatment every 6 months. But not the general adult population. It depends upon your specific dental health.
Haven’t done it since I was 18. My dentist never even tries to push it on me
I just got fluoride today! The dentist was amused at my choice of bubblegum flavoring. They were also very excited about my quality dental coverage, the fluoride having been included.
No idea regarding your actual question, but it can’t be a bad thing to get the fluoride. If you don’t, it’s like paying somebody to brush your teeth extra hard every 6 months and nothing much else.
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I do not get that treatment, but it’s probably not covered by my insurance. It is not unusual for covered treatments to be overutilized. Basic Insurance 101.
I mean, people die every day. You know why? Life insurance. There is an incentive!
Seems like a Southern thing, based on the two observations in this thread.
My impression is that it might be more of an “old school” thing. My elderly dentist used to recommend it. My current dental practice doesn’t do it.
My dentist just started recommending it a couple years ago.
My husband’s dentist has started recommending it. I don’t think he’s recommended it to our daughter, though. She has better teeth than my husband does.
Don’t know about the US but most major Canadian cities have fluoride in their water supply so the fluoride treatment in a dental office is largely redundant in those places.
Obligatory Dr. Strangelove video:
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This is true about the vast majority of US water systems. Rickson railed about it years ago, as flouride is apparently some sort of mind control device in the Q continuum
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Love that movie. Time to rewatch it for the umpteenth time. And the Communist plot around fluoridation in the drinking water was already believed by a lot of people at the time.
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The local water supply removed flouride treatment a couple years ago. I wish they hadn’t, but I know nothing of the science. But I do get a flouride treatment at the dentist every cleaning.
I skipped the flouride Tx (treatment) today. I will do it 1x a year when I get the bitewing 1x a year x-ray (I’ll post a thread when that happens again). They skipped the x-rays this year because I have braces in the way.
Portland doesn’t have fluoride in the water. I never had a cavity in my life until I’d lived in Portland for several years. 
Crap!!!
Vancouver is unusual by big Canadian city standards in not having fluoride in its water. Maybe it’s a West Coast thing as there are arguments against it beyond the communist conspiracy. I use a fluoride-infused tooth paste and get the occasional fluoride treatment from my dentist but he is ambivalent about it. My Toronto dentist never suggested fluoride treatment.
Some cities have naturally high fluoride levels in their water, so may not need to add more. That’s how they discovered the effect of fluoridation when they noticed that children’s teeth in Colorado Springs were discolored but very resistant to decay (they actually had too much fluoride in their water) -
https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/fluoride/the-story-of-fluoridation
At least the govt wasn’t using you as a science experiment!!!
/s
I’m an outlier. I get the fluoride treatment. It costs me an extra $35. I think that it’s a better idea than a lot of things I spend money on.
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