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Since you bring up fluoride—does anyone know the state of the literature on the effectiveness of fluoride treatments? I’ve been getting them for years. But with

Since you bring up fluoride—does anyone know the state of the literature on the effectiveness of fluoride treatments? I’ve been getting them for years. But with the recent trends towards PE owned dental practices and efforts to juice their profitability, I’m more and more skeptical of anything my dentist tries to sell me on.

whynotminot 2y ago
I also get the treatment because why risk your teeth and health at the cost of basically $50? But am still curious to know more about its efficacy.
jolt42 2y ago
Seems solid to me. They can predict reduction of caries before they add it to city supply water, which still happens in China I believe.
- amenghra 2y ago
  Majority of USA has fluoridated water per the cdc website. No need to go to China if you want data for studies.
teslabox 2y ago
I learned about Novamin a few years ago [0], and ordered BioMin Restore [1] to give it a try. I'm now a devoted customer. There are other Novamin/hydroxyapatite toothpastes, but I only have experience with this one brand. I think this company's latest news is the version of their toothpaste that has fluoride [2] is now FDA-approved for sensitive teeth, so they're going to be able to sell it in the United States specifically labeled to help with sensitive teeth. If you live in Canada or the UK [3], it looks like you can order this now. Just noticed a blog post on the UK site: Why you shouldn’t over-prescribe fluoride to your patients - https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-prescribe-fluoride-your-patients https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-pres... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 [1] https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin-restore-toothpaste https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin... [2] https://biomintoothpaste.com/ https://biomintoothpaste.com/ [3] https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml / https://biomin.co.uk/ https://biomin.co.uk/
- devbent 2y ago
  It has recently become harder to order novamin versions of sensadyne in the US through Amazon, so I'm hoping something gets onto the shelves soon.
  - Zircom 2y ago
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XK6XJBP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XK6XJBP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_... Bought just this past Sunday and delivered this morning, had zero issues finding and ordering it :)
- Loughla 2y ago
  Is there any science available about that, that isn't from the company selling it?
  - teslabox 2y ago
    My HN comment, linked to as [0], was on a submission about the history of NovaMin - iirc it was originally used for soldiers in Vietnam, then came to be used for repair of teeth. You can do your own experiment: $10 for a tube, plus $6 shipping. If you have sensitive teeth it’s worth a trial.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - davoneus 2y ago
    Nature relayed one from the British Dental Journal (2023) on the acid protection granted by BioMin F. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-024-7876-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-024-7876-8) Here's another from 2022 that compares Colgate fluoride toothpaste against BioMin F(https://shorturl.at/M4hiQ https://shorturl.at/M4hiQ).
Der_Einzige 2y ago
You can get high fluoride tooth paste (i.e. ~2% fluoride vs the 0.25% found in normal toothpaste) just by asking from most dentists. Costs about the same per bottle too. Been doing this for years and have nearly perfect teeth due to it, flossing, and non alcohol based anti-gingivitis/anti-plaque mouth washing. Also, people who think fluoride is bad for you or think it's not effective for teeth are exactly the kind of people I'm terrified of paying in the context of developing software. I really wish people would wear their love of homeopathy, and other psudo-scientific bullshit more clearly so they can be more easily avoided.
- ifwinterco 2y ago
  There's a big difference between applying a high concentration of fluoride to teeth where it's needed and then spitting the excess out vs swallowing a low concentration of flouride in drinking water and having most of it go where it isn't needed. The issue is people (rightly imo) oppose the latter and throw the baby out with the bathwater

whynotminot 2y ago

I also get the treatment because why risk your teeth and health at the cost of basically $50? But am still curious to know more about its efficacy.

jolt42 2y ago

Seems solid to me. They can predict reduction of caries before they add it to city supply water, which still happens in China I believe.

amenghra 2y ago
Majority of USA has fluoridated water per the cdc website. No need to go to China if you want data for studies.

teslabox 2y ago

I learned about Novamin a few years ago [0], and ordered BioMin Restore [1] to give it a try. I'm now a devoted customer. There are other Novamin/hydroxyapatite toothpastes, but I only have experience with this one brand. I think this company's latest news is the version of their toothpaste that has fluoride [2] is now FDA-approved for sensitive teeth, so they're going to be able to sell it in the United States specifically labeled to help with sensitive teeth. If you live in Canada or the UK [3], it looks like you can order this now. Just noticed a blog post on the UK site: Why you shouldn’t over-prescribe fluoride to your patients - https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-prescribe-fluoride-your-patients https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-pres... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 [1] https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin-restore-toothpaste https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin... [2] https://biomintoothpaste.com/ https://biomintoothpaste.com/ [3] https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml / https://biomin.co.uk/ https://biomin.co.uk/

devbent 2y ago
It has recently become harder to order novamin versions of sensadyne in the US through Amazon, so I'm hoping something gets onto the shelves soon.
- Zircom 2y ago
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XK6XJBP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XK6XJBP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_... Bought just this past Sunday and delivered this morning, had zero issues finding and ordering it :)
Loughla 2y ago
Is there any science available about that, that isn't from the company selling it?
- teslabox 2y ago
  My HN comment, linked to as [0], was on a submission about the history of NovaMin - iirc it was originally used for soldiers in Vietnam, then came to be used for repair of teeth. You can do your own experiment: $10 for a tube, plus $6 shipping. If you have sensitive teeth it’s worth a trial.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- davoneus 2y ago
  Nature relayed one from the British Dental Journal (2023) on the acid protection granted by BioMin F. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-024-7876-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-024-7876-8) Here's another from 2022 that compares Colgate fluoride toothpaste against BioMin F(https://shorturl.at/M4hiQ https://shorturl.at/M4hiQ).

Der_Einzige 2y ago

You can get high fluoride tooth paste (i.e. ~2% fluoride vs the 0.25% found in normal toothpaste) just by asking from most dentists. Costs about the same per bottle too. Been doing this for years and have nearly perfect teeth due to it, flossing, and non alcohol based anti-gingivitis/anti-plaque mouth washing. Also, people who think fluoride is bad for you or think it's not effective for teeth are exactly the kind of people I'm terrified of paying in the context of developing software. I really wish people would wear their love of homeopathy, and other psudo-scientific bullshit more clearly so they can be more easily avoided.

ifwinterco 2y ago
There's a big difference between applying a high concentration of fluoride to teeth where it's needed and then spitting the excess out vs swallowing a low concentration of flouride in drinking water and having most of it go where it isn't needed. The issue is people (rightly imo) oppose the latter and throw the baby out with the bathwater