 Hello everybody, Andrea Maeski here with dental tutoring. Let's talk about fluoride. So this is a great topic because there was actually I'm part of a group on Facebook and somebody was just simply asking about Fluoride so not a dental professional, but somebody was asking the best toothpaste to use They were looking for an all-natural toothpaste because they want to limit as much waste as possible in their household So just simply what toothpaste is everybody using do they make their own things like that? So I had mentioned and I did say you know as a dental hygienist Let me mention that I don't agree with that with natural toothpaste Simply because you need more in there in your toothpaste than simply baking soda and water Yes in hindsight, it sounds great because you're able to take away the plaque Which in turn if there's no plaque there's no tartar, right? But it's harming your enamel. It's too abrasive You need a toothpaste that will also help to fight against gingivitis Bad breath, you know plaque tartar the whole works, right? I mean I did say it a little bit You know not as technical as that but I did say as a dental hygienist. These are my thoughts But I did also say make sure to have fluoride in your toothpaste I find these days on social media anytime you talk about your opinion and your thoughts It's not always a good thing, especially if someone Doesn't agree with them, right? So that started a whole thread of people who like fluoride people who don't like Fluoride people were talking about how fluoride kills people were talking. Oh my gosh all kinds of things and I try to be a Subjective as possible, but I'm a dental hygienist. I'm a dental professional So I feel like I do have to chime in in these cases, but I kept always saying, you know It's just my opinion. We all have our own opinions. You do what's best for you Okay, you are the one who asked the question. So I'm giving my opinion, right? So pro fluoride, you know, do you like fluoride? Do you not like fluoride? Why? So this is how I explained it. I Ex I explained it because a lot of people were saying that fluoride is bad There's research showing it's just bad It can kill us over time it causes cancer it does all kinds of things, right and people were asking me Well, what research do you have that fluoride is good? And I said to them I said well since we've taken the fluoride out of the water depending on where you live I've seen a rampant decay and young children. So yeah, that's my own research When an eight-year-old comes in with so many cavities Yet they've never had a cavity before or maybe one cavity when they were four years old and now they have ten cavities and they've never had You know, they don't eat a lot of sugar. They're not doing it anything. They don't have a lot of plaque or charter So what else is happening, right? I'm not just basing it on one patient, of course But I do simply say well, I see it in my profession Those who have fluoride in the drinking water versus those that don't it's quite obvious It's very very obvious and NAML is not as strong, you know, so I go through the whole thing So those are just some things that I had mentioned about pro fluoride Is that as long as you are using a toothpaste again you guys in my opinion? So please feel free to comment below on your opinions as well, but be nice about it because if you're mean I'm going to have to remove you right so just be nice about it, but because nobody wants to see with comments But yeah, just pro fluoride. I feel like if you're brushing your teeth with toothpaste I can take that contain Fluoride you are helping the enamel and helping your teeth in turn It means less cavities you have a lesser chance of getting cavities And it's just a good thing overall if you're swallowing toothpaste every time you brush That's not a good thing and yes, you will be sick Don't blame the fluoride blame you for swallowing the toothpaste That's why kids should not have Any fluoride in their toothpaste until they can spit out their toothpaste and then people when I had mentioned that People on the group were saying well if fluoride is so bad. Why can't they swallow it? They said well, that's kind of a weird argument, you know, there are a lot of things for us that are good But we shouldn't be eating it like, you know, toothpaste or not toothpaste Nail polish won't kill us. But if we drink a bottle of it, well, it might you know, I don't really know Window cleaner is amazing for washing the windows, but when we're drinking it, that's not good Even those natural Counter cleaners those those natural window cleaners if we drink them. Yes, they're natural for us But we shouldn't be drinking them, right? So I kind of use that and that shut a lot of people up, right? Sorry if I thought somebody was at the door. So I just kind of mentioned that I said well I still think a fluoride is a great thing. I use it I use it every day. In fact, I apply a fluoride varnish onto my teeth every six months because When I was a kid and I had a fluoride in the water I would get a lot of Incipients so I would get little cavities that were so tiny not enough to fix them But they were there So if I didn't brush really really well, then they would get larger But it's because I have thin enamel it is now known that I have been enamel, right? So I need in my opinion anyway, I need fluoride and I find a Why not have it? Why not protect the enamel as much as possible your enamel will last you for your entire life? Just don't eat it and just don't swallow it so I am absolutely pro fluoride and some of the other members in the group were saying oh well Notice how only the dental professionals are pro fluoride. It's because you know, it's the same thing as the doctors pushing Pharmacological drugs and I said like that's not the same thing I'm a dental professional on pro fluoride, but I'm not making money off of recommending fluoride to people Like what are you talking about? You know, it's kind of silly and then I said to them Well, I'm as natural, you know in a lot of things like I actually and this is a true story like I have natural cleaning products I have natural Makeup, but I have natural deodorant I Try not to take you know Advil Tylenol any painkillers. I do try to use Essential oils where I can so I'm trying to be as natural as possible But that's just a personal choice, but not when it comes to my toothpaste I fully fully believe that those natural toothpaste out there They're full of baking soda and baking soda harms your enamel and that actually Strips away the natural oils and the natural pH the good pH that we have so I prefer the other toothpaste Sorry guys, again, I thought I heard somebody I'm expecting someone so that's why I keep kind of looking somebody has to pick something out But um, you know, I'm a full believer in I don't really like natural toothpaste I don't tell that to my patients But if they do ask me the toothpaste that I recommend I will tell them or if they do ask me about natural toothpaste I am fully honest with them. Um, I use natural toothpaste I'd say a couple years ago because at the time as I said I was kind of switching over to being as natural as possible and I'm not blaming the toothpaste But that's when I got my first cavity. I got a four or five do cavity and I kind of thought I had never had one. I'm super nervous. Yes, I'm a dental hygienist But I still was not happy that I had a cavity and I brush and and And floss every day and do everything that I'm supposed to so again, you guys I'm not blaming the toothpaste, but I quickly switched my toothpaste again and I haven't had a cavity since so I fully believe like once I started doing more Research on it. I found yeah, the natural toothpaste isn't the best thing for you. It's really not In my opinion, sorry, I feel like I have to keep saying that because I don't want somebody to be watching the video Halfway through and then being like, oh, she hates like natural toothpaste, you know, it's horrible. So no, it's just my opinion I don't use it on myself And I don't recommend it for my patients. So that's why I'm pro fluoride In my opinion, it can't hurt unless you're eating the fluoride. It just helps to make the enamel stronger So why wouldn't you want that? Please feel free to comment below. I feel like I could talk about this forever But I'll stop the video and let you guys comment on your thoughts. So please let me know. Are you pro fluoride? Are you not? I'm sure I'll come up with another video talking about some of the comments too So please just let me know what your thoughts are and thank you guys so much for watching