Dosage Recommendations for Dietary Fluoride Supplements

In communities where the water supply is deficient in fluoride, fluoride supplements, taken as recommended, can impart protection against dental caries in the deciduous and permanent dentitions, the degree of which approaches that derived from drinking optimally fluoridated water for a similar period of time. For best protection to deciduous and permanent teeth, the Council on Dental Therapeutics (CDT) of the American Dental Association¹ recommends that treatment with fluoride supplements begin in early infancy and continue daily until the patient is approximately 13 years of age, when eruption of all permanent teeth except the third molars usually has taken place. Of course, before any fluoride supplement is prescribed, it is imperative for the dentist or physician to ascertain the fluoride concentration of the patient's water supply to avoid overdoses that might produce enamel fluorosis during the critical period of tooth mineralization.

The CDT's newest dosage schedule is shown in