When and What Can You Eat before Fluoride Treatment?

The ADA suggests you get fluoride treatments every three, six, and 12 months or as your dentist recommends if you are at high risk of dental caries. Fluoride treatments help strengthen tooth enamel to battle cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth and even help slow or reverse early decay.

Fluoride treatments available in the office from the Alexandria dentist require approximately 30 minutes with no downtime associated. The fluoride available to dentists in the form of varnish, gel, or mouthwash. However, the fluoride is more concentrated than available in toothpaste or drinking water (if available in community water in your locality). However, the treatments deliver results to strengthen tooth enamel to help in your battle against cavities.

When considering fluoride treatments for yourself or your kid from the dentist in Alexandria, VA, you might have many queries regarding fluoride results and whether you must fast before receiving the treatment. Fortunately, fluoride treatments don’t require cutting back on eating foods for extended periods before or after receiving them. Instead, the dentist in Alexandria answers all your questions before providing the treatment to help you remain at ease with the knowledge that this therapy is only a preventive care treatment against cavities for your teeth.

Why Should You Receive Fluoride Treatments?

If you know that brushing and flossing are optimal for removing dental plaque on your teeth and below the gum line, you might question why you must receive professional in-office fluoride treatment in Alexandria, VA?

You might be justified in asking questions about why you must receive this therapy to prevent your mouth bacteria from creating cavities. Unfortunately, even as brushing and flossing are excellent for removing dental plaque dental fraternity does not guarantee these activities help remove all plaque on your teeth and between them. Specks of plaque remaining on your teeth quickly harden into tartar within 48 hours to make you a victim of gingivitis, a severe infection of the gums to require frequent treatments from your dentist to prevent the progress of the disease to periodontitis, causing gum recession, bone deterioration, and tooth loss.

Instead of enduring all the above, dentists recommend that you get an application of fluoride varnish from them to protect the outer layer of your teeth and the enamel from the attacks of mouth bacteria to result in cavities. Holes occur on your teeth only after the bacteria penetrate the enamel. They continue working until they reach the dental pulp and cause infections inside the tooth, leaving you with excruciating pain to need the fearsome root canal treatment.

When you receive the therapy from the dentist in Alexandria, your teeth remineralize themselves to provide a preventive barrier that helps prevent cavities. Dentists recommend fluoride treatments precisely for this reason.

Must You Refrain from Eating before Receiving Fluoride Treatment?

When receiving fluoride treatments, no preparation is needed besides arriving at the dentist’s office requesting fluoride treatment. You can eat whatever you want before your appointment, remembering that the dentist restricts you from having food for approximately four to six hours after receiving the therapy to ensure your teeth fully absorb the fluoride. Besides allowing you to have chilled drinks soon after receiving the treatment, the dentist suggests some limitations on the foods you can have later.

You benefit most from fluoride varnish if you refrain from eating foods until at least six hours after undergoing the therapy. However, if you feel hungry, you can consider soft foods like yogurt, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, mashed bananas, and blended soups. However, you must avoid hard textured foods and rely on foods such as whole-grain biscuits with milk, boiled pasta or rice with sauce, minced meat, cottage cheese, and white or brown bread besides the varieties suggested earlier. You must also refrain from having scorching drinks like coffee or tea and prefer chilled beverages during the initial six hours after receiving this treatment.

What after Receiving a Fluoride Treatment?

Fluoride treatments are not available to free of cost, although insurance providers cover the costs of this therapy for children. Therefore, you might have to pay $ 10-$ 30 or more for the treatment making it essential to inquire about its expenses with the Alexandria dental professional.

Please do not assume you can ignore brushing and flossing after receiving fluoride therapy. You must continue maintaining excellent dental hygiene as recommended by your dentist and receive six monthly dental prophylaxis for cleanings that help remove any excess plaque on or between your teeth. Fluoride helps strengthen tooth enamel but doesn’t prevent decay by itself. Therefore you must continue brushing and flossing and incorporate mouthwash into your everyday dental hygiene routine for best results.

Burton Dentistry provides in-office professional fluoride therapy and their practice in Alexandria. If you have questions about this therapy or want to receive the treatment, kindly schedule your appointment with the practice to receive this preventive barrier over your teeth.