Скачать или смотреть Study: Fluoride-Free Won't Stop Cavities

(7 Aug 2018) Dental health experts worry that more people are using toothpaste that skips the most important ingredient _ the fluoride _ and leaves them at a greater risk of cavities.
Most toothpastes already contain cavity-fighting fluoride. While health authorities recognize fluoride as a cavity blocker, the internet is dotted with claims often from "natural" toothpaste marketers and alternative medicine advocates who say fluoride-free toothpaste also prevents cavities.
Dental authorities disagree: they say you need fluoride.
That view was underscored this week by an article in the dental journal Gerodontology that reviewed the scientific literature on cavities. Its primary conclusion is that, without fluoride, oral hygiene efforts have "no impact" on cavity rates.
The idea that toothbrushing alone doesn't stop cavities has largely been accepted among individual researchers for decades, but not always by the public. Dentists generally recommend fluoride for cavity fighting, but even some of them continue to believe that the mechanics of wiping your teeth clean of plaque also reduces cavities. The review findings were published Monday.
Because the value of fluoride has been widely accepted for decades, few studies of the question have been carried out in recent years. In the review, University of Washington researchers looked for high-quality studies since 1950 and found just three. They were carried out in the U.S. and Great Britain and published from 1977 to 1981. They involved a total of 743 children ages10-13 who flossed and brushed for up to three years.
When the studies were evaluated statistically as a whole, there was no significant cavity reduction from simply brushing or flossing without fluoride.
The market share for fluoride-free toothpaste is closely held company data. But industry sources estimate it at no more than 5 percent of all toothpaste sold, but with projected growth of over 5 percent annually. On Monday, Tom's of Maine antiplaque and whitening toothpaste, which is fluoride-free, was listed as the second-best selling toothpaste on Amazon's online buying platform.
Paul Jessen, a brand manager at Tom's of Maine, said "the products that don't contain fluoride that we offer do not promise that benefit" to fight cavities. He said his company's customers generally understand this.
Yet customer comment on Amazon's website sometimes indicates otherwise, with many reviews insisting that the company's fluoride-free toothpaste does fight cavities. "If you brush regularly with or without fluoride, you reduce the risk of cavities," asserts one customer.
Despite the clear benefit of fluoride, some studies have also challenged the belief that fluoridated drinking water stops dental decay as well as fluoride toothpaste or rinses. In any event, it makes sense to combine fluoridated water and dental products for amplified protection, said Niederman, the NYU dentist.
Some dentists also said the most effective way to prevent cavities is simply to reduce sugars in the diet.

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