Should I use a fluoride or fluoride-free toothpaste?

In addition to what others have already mentioned, I would like to point out that the main purpose of using toothpaste is to deliver fluoride to the surface of your teeth. The plaque could be effectively removed without using any paste. So a fluoride-free toothpaste is more or less equal to no toothpaste in effectivity. The lethal dose of fluoride for a human adult is 5-10 grams (which is a LOT!) and the only adverse affect of fluoride at the low levels used in toothpaste or water fluoridation is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_fluorosis. Excessive exposure to fluoride affects tooth during its development so after 8 years of age a child is no longer at risk of fluorosis. In summary unless you are 3 years old or have accidentally swallowed 5 Kilograms of toothpaste (the fluoride content of most toothpastes is 1000-1500 ppm), you needn't worry about the fluoride in toothpaste. Thank you for the A2A.

Fluoride is the hot topic these days. I will stick to "fluoride", "toothpaste" and "toxicity" while answering because these are the specific key terms here. I like the answer by , it makes sense. I 'll just add a bit of evidence to it. Your concern is about getting any toxicity with fluoride toothpaste. There has been a lot of research on it. Fluoride toothpaste is topical application of fluoride and bingo! it works! Toxicity only occurs when you swallow it and happens mostly in kids, because they just eat it. I am going to give links to a few articles about the effectiveness of fluoride toothpaste : http://www.nature.com/ebd/journal/v15/n1/full/6400979a.html ("limited evidence" means that we need more high quality research) http://jada.ada.org/content/145/2/182.long#ref-8 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ebch.705/full I'll quote the answer from these studies (this is from the Cochrane Review) : "There is strong evidence that the use of toothpaste containing fluoride can prevent tooth decay (caries) in both children and adults. However, a possible adverse effect associated with the use of fluoride toothpaste is the mottling of permanent teeth due to the swallowing of excessive fluoride by young children with developing teeth." I will ask you not to swallow the toothpaste and life is good ;) , a very good question and a big responsibility is to answer appropriately. Thanks for A2A, and I hope I did justice to it.This answer is not a substitute for professional medical advic...

Thank you for A2A. To be honest I don't have much of a knowledge about fluoride content in toothpaste but I do know excess of flouride i.e > 3-5ppm can cause fluorosis which is not good for your dental health. It leads to what is called as mottling of teeth, also its systemic absorption for a longer period of time can lead to conditions like anaemia & osteoporosis. So according to me flouride free should be a better choice but if toothpaste contains flouride in an amount which is safe & there is no access of it into your gastrointestinal tract to get absorbed, it should be fine. Hope this helps :)

I don't think it matters whether you use fluoride toothpaste or not. What does matter is proper brushing technique to remove plaque. Also, the frequency of brushing (at least twice a day.) And don't forget to floss!

Fluoride in toothpaste is a hot topic these days. Most people, and dentists (yes they are people too), don't quite understand how fluoride works and confuse its benefits verses threats. Fluoride by itself does not remineralize teeth. A naturally saliva producing crystal call hydroxyapatite remineralizes teeth. Teeth are 97% hydroxyapatite by composition. Fluoride, after undergoing a few chemical reactions, gets together with hydroxyapatite creating a modified molecule (crystal) called fluorohydroxyapatite, which is up to 25% less soluble than normal hydroxyapatite. So, yes fluoride can be good for you but in very small amounts. Ingesting fluoride in a very very small amount, such as what you get from certain foods, is healthy. But swallowing it when doing your teeth can be even dangerous, depending on your age and weight. If a child of 2 years old eats around 40% of a tube of toothpaste, it could easily die. That is why many countries throughout the world have banned the addition of fluoride to water. So, there is nothing wrong with a toothpaste with fluoride, if you don't swallow. However the critical part of remineralization is done by hydroxyapatite, of which saliva is the donor. Buying toothpaste with hydroxyapatite makes more sense, since you are helping saliva out. But be sure that the hydroxyapatite is the right size, that is, not to large a particle. It should be in the "nano" particle size, about 20-50nm in size, since if it bigger than that it will be too large to fit in the canals between the crystallites in the enamel, which are around 50-60nm wide. Particles this size are very expensive, but worth their weight in gold (or even platinum). And don't buy toothpastes that have "components" that could make up hydroxyapatite. The same components could make up tartar in certain conditions. And that you don't want. So, don't be fooled by toothpastes claiming that they have hydroxyapatite. Firstly, it should be nano-hydroxyapatite. Secondly the particles size should be 20-50 nm. If you are not sure, ask the manufacturer. If he/she does not tell you , stay away. There are a handful of good supplier of nano-hydroxyapatite out there, such as Apaguard or Megasonex, which can be bought online. I particularly like Megasonex since it does not have SLS or other sulphates, does not have preservatives like paragons or benzoates. Like anything else in oral hygiene, the key is a good diet, gentle but thorough  teeth cleaning, nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste and, of course, flossing. Daily tongue scraping can also be important, since you can have just as many bacteria on the tongue that you have on all the teeth combined.

This is an interesting discussion that I'd like to follow.  I've been using Tom's of Maine  (with fluoride) for years, but I was at the Alive Expo today and saw a couple of other brands that got me thinking: http://www.earthpaste.com/hello/ (http://www.amazon.com/Redmond-Earthpaste-Toothpaste-Peppermint-Ounce/dp/B0080L9G9C/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1460859371&sr=8-2&keywords=earthpaste+peppermint) http://www.amazon.com/Weleda-Salt-Toothpaste-2-5-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B00412XCDU Both of these toothpastes are supposedly more natural and neither have fluoride.  Earthpaste is made by Redmond and I use other Redmond products like their salt.  Weleda is a good company.  I use their deodorant.  Any thoughts on these 2 toothpastes?  Still best to stick with a toothpaste with fluoride?

Fluoride in toothpaste is safe. The study below shows that you ingest only 1.07% of toothpaste at worst (study done with children who are more likely to ingest it) and that would lead to daily ingestion or 0.0024mg assuming 1500 ppm toothpaste, and brushing 3 times a day. The lethal dose as mentioned is 5-10 g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10365494http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10365494 Compare that to drinking 1.5 l of water at 1.5 ppm - 2.25mg (937 times more than from toothpaste). It's a very stark contrast and makes you wonder if fluoridation is safe. Obviously that level is still much lower than the lethal dose, but then again if that dose was so good, why don't we have 1000 times more powerful toothpaste? Why isn't there 1,500,000 ppm (well, 1.5 ppt) toothpaste given that we prescribe that to everyone with the water supply?

Fluoridated toothpastes are better since they strengthen the outer layers of teeth making,them more resistent to spread of decay. Toxicity will happen only if you swallow large amounts of toothpaste which is generally not possible.

You should use a toothpaste with minimum level of fluoride. Fluorides act on the enamel of the tooth and make them weak, thus leading to brittle teeth. But again, I'm no doctor. Consult a doctor for best answer.