The Role of Fluoride Therapy for Adults

The Role of Fluoride Therapy for Adults is organized by MetLife.

Originally published: July 2020 
Expiration date: July 2023

Description:
It is important to emphasize that middle-aged and older adults, once generally assumed to be at low risk of dental caries because they were well past the “caries-prone years,” in fact continue to experience new caries lesions at rates comparable to or greater than adolescents.1,2 Thus it is prudent to consider caries as a substantial disease among adults. While evidence suggests that these caries-active adults can be identified in dental practice, attention to intensified prevention in this population is not evident in dental practice. This is not surprising considering that the effectiveness of preventive methods in caries-active adults has not been established by quality investigations, and there are no specific guidelines for caries prevention for adults at moderate or high risk of developing caries. Thus, there is a need to identify effective preventive agents for caries-active adults that can be used by dental practitioners and their patients.

Both professionally applied and professionally recommended self-applied preventive regimens represent feasible approaches to reducing the burden of disease in the population.3,4 While fluorides are clearly a part of current practice, the extent of their use in caries-active adults can be questioned. Although dentists report anecdotally that they prescribe high-concentration fluoride dentifrices for their adult patients, the only evaluation of this behavior showed, even based on self-reports of prescribing behavior, that such prescriptions were extremely infrequent.5 The relatively high cost and inconvenience associated with obtaining prescription medications may also mitigate against adoption and long-term use, especially in high-risk elderly individuals. Furthermore, benefits in many dental insurance plans do not include fluoride applications for adults, causing some to refuse the therapy.

Educational Objectives:
Following this unit of instruction, the learner should be able to:
• Understand the mode of action and the multifunctional role of fluoride in adult patients’ oral health care.
• Understand the caries preventive action of fluorides.
• Understand the role of fluoride in the treatment of early (initial) caries lesions.
• Identify different modalities of fluorides available for adult patients’ oral health care.
• Understand how and when to appropriately apply topical fluorides.
• Be capable of educating patients on the appropriate application of self-applied topical fluorides.