Should I Be Giving My 16 Month Old Flouride Drops?

I have been in the dental field for 20 years the last 10 of which I have been a dental hygienist. NO don't give him fluoride drops! All teeth are formed by 9 months of age. After that point internal fluoride is ineffective!
Brush the child's teeth every night..with a pea sized amount of toothpaste. The fluoride in the toothpaste is plenty. Most people don't realize fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in ALL WATER. So juices you may mix or food has some small amount of fluoride. Never put to bed with bottles especially sugary or acidic items ( kool aid o.j. ect). They fluid "pools" in the mouth and causes bottle rot (rampant decay). I have had to educate many patients on the subject of fluoride drops and some pediatricians too.
I know they are "Dr.s" but you wouldn't ask them to do foot surgery on your child because that is not their area of study (meaning your general doctor). good luck! Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. Any of these facts can be located on line.

Tooth development is the complex process by which teeth form from embryonic cells, grow, and erupt into the mouth. Although many diverse species have teeth, non-human tooth development is largely the same as in humans. For human teeth to have a healthy oral environment, enamel, dentin, cementum, and the periodontium must all develop during appropriate stages of fetal development. Primary (baby) teeth start to form between the sixth and eighth weeks in utero, and permanent teeth begin to form in the twentieth week in utero.[20]
There is no research that indicates internal fluoride given after teeth development in utero is a "significant" benefit. However there is some research that indicates too much fluoride in the body may cause problems with bones and deposits in the liver. If there isn't anything that plainly says "It is good for you or will really help" but there are things that say "It may NOT be good" why take the chance? P.S. a cleft palate is a different situation all together.
Sorry one last thing. Fluoride is NATURALLY occurring in all water. Some water may have too little because it is not regulated by the Water Commission. However if you have well water it could just as well have more than what the Commission recommends. There is a simple test that is usually available through your local health department. You take them a sample of your water and they will test it for you. The recommended amount is ..6 ppm. The only way to get water without Fluoride is to actually have a device attached to a water supply that REMOVES it. In the case of bottled water it is not regulated by a water commission so they don't know how much is in it. But if the water company removed fluoride they should list that on the bottle.

Here is some info I copied from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry www.aapd.org

How do I know if my child is getting enough fluoride?
Have your pediatric dentist evaluate the fluoride level of your child's primary source of drinking water. If your child is not getting enough fluoride internally through water (especially if the fluoride level is deficient or if your child drinks bottled water without fluoride), then your pediatric dentist may prescribe fluoride supplements. http://www.aapd.org/pediatricinformation/faq.asp

The first thing you need to do is have your tap water tested to quantify the amount of fluroide in your water. Contact you local health department for testing information. This will help guide your decision. You can't make an informed decision until you know what you are dealing with in your household water supply.

http://www.fluoridealert.org/

There are people who believe it has a use, and many who do not. It is certainly something to be cautious about and not overdo, no matter where you fall on the spectrum. Since I did not see much about the risks I included the link for you to read.

The theory is that it causes hardening of the enamel. Even if it successfully does that, no benefits are apparent from ingestion, and not everyone in the scientific literature agrees that it does that much. And there is the risk that fluoride combines easily with many other substances to create sometimes dangerous chemicals.

Talk to your doctor about it, but be cautious about seeing it as some sort of miracle cure for the need for good dental care daily. My teeth are permanently discolored because of fluoride treatments as a child that didn't work anyway were not a replacement for consistent oral hygiene and a diet free of most sugars. I got less cavities when my diet changed, which coincided with when I stopped consuming fluoridated water and such, so it wasn't related to fluoride.

Visit this website:
www.fluoridealert.org
It is informational and has the latest updates.
Hope this helps.
L. R., R.N.
Earthly Essentials Living

I think it is worth it to discuss with your Ped. Also know what kind of water supply you have in your area. In New York City I know they put flouride in the water whereas my extended family in Long Island/ Nassau county, they do not. My neices and nephews took the flouride drops for that reason.
Also, if you use powdered formula and hydrate it with tap, he is getting all the water he needs.
If you were the mommy that had concerns about powdered toddler formula yesterday and that your son wasn't drinking it except the ready made kind, maybe try making a day's worth of formula the night before and allowing it to sit overnight so it can really soak up all the powder. Or even place it in the blender to give it an extra whirl and get it to be smoother.

I don't think so, but definitely check with his pediatrician or a pediatric dentist. I was told by our pediatric dentist that kids get flouride from other places and don't need the drops. Too much flouride can harm permanent teeth.
When you got back to the pediatrician, go armed with a list of questions. That way you know exactly what to ask. I'm guessing he's your first child? I always found it helpful to have a list. I still make one. I make a list on my phone that way I know I'll have it with me when I go to the office.

My pedia prescribed the multivitamin with flouride in it. It depends on the water in your area. I think I read your post yesterday about the formula and you had mentioned using "nursery" water to make the formula. Read the label on that b/c I thought that had flouride in it. Also some bottled waters marketed for kids have flouride in it too. Those Poland Spring Sport pods or those little bottles - not sure which but again, read the labels. You have a lot of questions so I would DEFINITLEY call my pediatrician and go over all this with him/her to make sure you have it all straight. Write down all your questions and concerns so you don't forget when you go in. : )

If you baby is fed powdered formula made with tap water that is flourinated, then you don't need to worry. Do you put water in a sippy cup and keep it around all day for him to sip from?

.

If you mix the formula with tap water, it's already flourinated, so he should be fine. It's not my place to question the formula at 16 months, but using tap water vs. bottled water will provide the needed flouride.

Just found another source from the American Academy of Pediatrics on the topic:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

I'd recommend speaking with the pediatrician as well as a pediatric dentist. We waited until our son had a major dental injury at 18 months to get him in, and we wish we had done it earlier. Sounds silly, but kids fall (both of ours have knocked teeth severely out of line because of normal falls) and having a baseline dental record can really help even though they'll lose the baby teeth.

Here is what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends about flouride and general dental health in babies.
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/t...

Every child I know gets prescribed vitamins with flouride - really shocked yours does not, and that he recommends formula over milk. I would seriously consider another pediatrician. Sorry for being so negative!!

The formula he drinks is full of flouride. Today, children have too much flouride b/c it is in the water, soil, products we use etc. The American Dental Assoc even advised to not produce infant formula with flouride treated water because of the rise in flourosis in infants. Google flouride toxicity and decide for yourself.....

It depends on the water in your area. Some places have plenty of fluoride in the water.

We don't where I am so the pedi automatically put him on a vitamin with fluoride in it.

Not a bad idea to ask the pedi, though.

Formula is fortified with flouride. My 7 year old just went to the dentist. He has little white dots (calcium deposits) on his adult teeth and the dentist told me it could be from too much flouride. He asked if he was formula fed-nursed him for 6 mos though. There are currently being studies done on how much flouride should be in formula...

Flouride is in city water .. and some is found in bottle water. BUT if you have well water, you definitely need drops.
My Kids are around 2, and suck the toothpaste from the toothbrush, so they get a little flouride.... I am not so diligent with the flouride drops nowadays.
But when they started to bud some teeth, I started the drops because I have well water.....