Large Amounts of Fluoride Consumed by Young Children Leads to Fluorosis

A recent study looked at the role of fluoride in young children. It was found that young children who consume large amounts of fluoride through fluoridated water and beverages mixed with flouridated water as well as by swallowing toothpaste with fluoride have an increased chance of developing mild enamel fluorosis.

The study noted that all of the fluorosis in the young children seen was mild and that they feel that the oral health of these young children was not adversely affected in anyway. If a child has mild enamel fluorosis there will be barely noticeable faint white lines or streaks on tooth enamel.

The researchers used mothers of newborns from eight Iowa hospital postpartum wards between 1992 and 1995 which is known as the Iowa Fluoride Study. A total of 630 children were used in the study and questionnaires were regularly sent to the parents in the study.

The researchers did find that large amounts of fluoride consumption from beverages with fluoridated water by children between the ages of 3 to 9 months will increase a child’s risk of developing mild enamel fluorosis. In addition, large amounts of fluoride consumption from fluoridated water and from toothpaste with fluoride by children between the ages of 16 to 36 months also will increase a child’s risk of developing mild enamel fluorosis.

It is therefore recommended that parents watch the amount of toothpaste their child uses and makes sure that a small amount is used. It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to breastfed infants.

It would seem to me that an obvious solution to make sure your child is safe here is to have access to water without fluoride in it. Unfortunately depending on where you live and in what region your water you have access to may have fluoride in it.

I have previously written about fluoride in water on this blog which provides some additional information if you are interested. https://blog.teethremoval.com/fluoride-in-water-at-birth-helps-dental-health-in-later-adult-life/

If you are a mother or soon to be mother or plan to become a mother and certainly if you have a young infant I recommend watching the Youtube video seen below.

Source: Steven M. Levy and et. al.  Associations Between Fluorosis of Permanent Incisors and Fluoride Intake From Infant Formula, Other Dietary Sources and Dentifrice During Early Childhood. Journal of the American Dental Association, 2010; 141 (10): 1190-1201.