You’ve probably heard of fluoride in things such as fluoride toothpaste or mouthwash. What is fluoride? You may have heard of fluoride in drinking water, but have you heard of fluoride nutrition in food?
Fergus Orthodontics encourages the use of fluoride to protect you from tooth decay and other oral health problems. Fluoride is a healthy way to build strong teeth and bones, and there are nutritious foods high in fluoride. Let’s explore fluoride and the 5 food sources of fluoride that can help keep your smile healthy.

What Is Fluoride?
You’ve probably heard of fluoride, but do you really know what it is or how it helps your teeth and bones?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral derived from the element fluorine. It’s been shown to stop and even reverse the beginning stages of tooth decay and help rebuild bones (but not enamel, which is not bone!).
How Does Fluoride Help My Teeth?
Fluoride strengthens enamel, the hard outer shell of your tooth that protects the living interior. Fluoride remineralizes enamel, replacing those lost from demineralization from bacteria. Demineralization is the first step in tooth decay.
For those with braces, it can leave white spots after braces. Those white spots are areas of weakened enamel that could eventually become cavities without good oral hygiene. We stress brushing regularly with fluoride toothpaste, especially during braces treatment.
Fluoride helps strengthen your enamel against tooth decay and cavities, which can damage and even destroy your teeth. It can even reverse the early stages of tooth decay, preventing cavities from forming. However, it cannot create new enamel that cavities have destroyed, so you must treat cavities with fillings.
5 Food Sources of Fluoride
Fluoride isn’t just found in your toothpaste or tap water. There are also certain foods with fluoride occurring naturally. These foods also have other vitamins and minerals vital to good health.
If you’re wondering where to find fluoride food sources, here are five options:
- Potatoes and other root vegetables, like carrots
- Oatmeal
- Seafood, particularly blue crab and shrimp
- Grapes/raisins
- Spinach
These foods naturally contain fluoride and have more when cooked in tap water, particularly potatoes, oatmeal, and similar grains.
Certain drinks, including black tea, coffee, wine, and fruit juices, can provide fluoride. However, you should limit your intake of these because they can also stain your teeth, and wine and fruit juices can increase your blood sugar levels.
How Much Fluoride Is Too Much?
Most cities and municipalities add fluoride to drinking water, and if you consume foods with fluoride and use fluoride toothpaste, it begs the question — what is too much fluoride?
Is it possible to overdose on fluoride, especially with drinking water fluoride and other sources around? It is highly unlikely for adults because fluoride amounts in both foods and drinking water are so low they equal only a tiny percentage of the “adequate intake” of fluoride.
Adults 19 or older need an average of about 4mg of fluoride daily, while teenagers and pregnant women need about 3mg. Small children only need about 0.5mg of fluoride daily because their teeth and bones are still developing. That’s why we recommend not using fluoride toothpaste until they are 5-6 years old.
Most children between the ages of 4 and 8 can use 1mg of fluoride daily, and between the ages of 9 and 13, 2 mg. The recommended adequate fluoride intake for children between 14 and 18 is 3mg.
For example, potatoes contain only about 2% of the adequate adult fluoride intake, while cooked oatmeal has 4% per cup.
Will Fluoride in Water Be Too Much?
What about fluoridated drinking water? How much fluoride is in drinking water? Federal regulations only allow adding about 0.7-1.2mg/L (milligrams per liter) of fluoride to water. You may be familiar with 2-liter bottles of soda. You’d need to drink about five tap water to exceed your daily fluoride limit.
Needless to say, adults have little chance of exceeding their daily fluoride limits. Small children have a better chance, so we don’t recommend using fluoride toothpaste until they age and can use more fluoride.
Is Too Much Fluoride Dangerous?
Excessive fluoride in children with developing teeth can lead to dental fluorosis, characterized by white or brown spots on the teeth and pitting in the enamel. Severe cases of fluorosis are very rare.
An acute high intake of fluoride can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, among other symptoms. This would happen if a dentist’s topical fluoride treatment were ingested.
The bottom line is that excessive fluoride is dangerous to your health, but reaching excessive levels is incredibly rare and only happens under special circumstances. Overall, fluoride ingestion through drinking water, foods, and toothpaste is safe.
Fluoride Answers in Jonesboro, AR
Fluoride can be a misunderstood mineral, but it’s needed for strong teeth and a healthy smile. At Fergus Orthodontics, we understand the importance of fluoride in foods and drinking water, and we’re happy to discuss it with you if you still have questions. Schedule a free consultation with Fergus Orthodontics in Jonesboro, AR, and discover how fluoride and orthodontics can combine to bring you the smile of your dreams!