Advantages to Using a Prescription Fluoride Toothpaste: Maritza O Jenkins, DMD: General Dentist (2024)

FAQs

What are the benefits of prescription fluoride? ›

The use of prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste can reduce these cavities by 70% and even reverse decay in over half of the affected teeth. Prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste should be used once daily in place of your regular toothpaste.

Prescription high fluoride toothpaste should be prescribed for patients with increased risk (moderate-high likelihood) of developing dental caries. This helps patients to control their initial caries lesions.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces your risk of cavities by approximately 25%. Specifically, fluoride: Remineralizes your tooth enamel. Reverses early tooth decay.

Higher fluoride content: Prescription toothpaste often has a higher fluoride concentration, making it more effective for those prone to cavities or with weakened enamel.

High-fluoride toothpaste must be prescribed by a dentist. It often can be used for up to 90 days, and it is safe as long as it's used as prescribed.

This is because regular use of a high concentration fluoride toothpaste by a young child who swallows rather than spits out toothpaste after brushing may result in fluorosis, which in its mildest form presents as discrete mottling of enamel, but as brown staining and varying degrees of malformation of enamel in more ...

Prevention and Treatment

High fluoride toothpastes like Duraphat 2800 and Duraphat 5000 help to protect the teeth from plaque and re-mineralise any damaged teeth.

Too much fluoride exposure can be dangerous, even for adults, which is why this type of toothpaste is only available by prescription from your dentist.

Fluoride is safe and beneficial in appropriate amounts, aiding in cavity prevention. However, excessive intake can have harmful effects, particularly in countries with naturally high fluoride levels in water. Fluoride is a chemical commonly added to toothpaste to help prevent tooth decay.

However, Prevident 5000 Plus may not be covered by health insurance. Most of the time, Prevident 5000 Plus is supplied by your dentist, who purchases Prevident 5000 Plus from a specialty pharmacy. If you take a Prevident 5000 Plus prescription to your pharmacy, ask your pharmacist to help you with your insurance.

Is it safe to use fluoride toothpaste everyday? ›

3 Most dentists and healthcare professionals follow ADA guidelines and recommend daily use of fluoride toothpaste.

Your dental team may want to prescribe you a high fluoride toothpaste if you are at higher risk of tooth decay.

What are Colgate PreviDent 5000 Booster Plus and Colgate Duraphat? Colgate PreviDent 5000 Booster Plus and Colgate Duraphat 5000 are both high-level (prescription-strength) fluoride toothpastes containing 1.1% sodium fluoride (5000 ppm fluoride).

Fluoride is used to prevent tooth decay. It is taken up by teeth and helps to strengthen teeth, resist acid, and block the cavity-forming action of bacteria. Fluoride usually is prescribed for children and adults whose homes have water that is not fluoridated (already has fluoride added).

While high fluoride toothpaste is completely safe, it's only required for patients with specific dental concerns. If you're looking to simply brush up on your oral hygiene, there are other things you can do. The first is to schedule regular check-up appointments with your dentist.

Fluoride treatments are an important part of maintaining oral health for adults. Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay and reverses early signs of enamel damage, such as pitting and shallow caries. When used in small amounts, fluoride supplements show 24% prevention of caries lesions in permanent teeth.

Fluoride, a mineral, is naturally present in many foods and available as a dietary supplement. Fluoride is the ionic form of the element fluorine, and it inhibits or reverses the initiation and progression of dental caries (tooth decay) and stimulates new bone formation [1].