Dr. Cheryl Biesterfeld, left, and dental assistant Kristin Parrish work on 11-year-old Ethan Bryan, Lawrence, at the Douglas County Dental Clinic on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2010. The clinic helps fill a need in the region by accepting Medicaid patients because so few dentists do. by Kevin Anderson
The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department and the Douglas County Dental Clinic will host two fluoride treatment clinics for low-income children.
The walk-in clinics will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 11 and Jan. 25 at the health department, 200 Maine. Children will receive treatment on a first-come, first-served basis.
The clinics are for children, ages 6 months to 18 years, who are uninsured or are on Medicaid or Healthwave. A parent or guardian must be present to sign a consent form for treatment and to provide the child’s medical card information.
A dental hygienist will paint a fluoride varnish on the children’s teeth to help make the enamel stronger and more resistant to dental decay. Children shouldn’t eat or drink for 30 minutes after it is painted on.
For more information, call the health department at 843-0721.
Tagged: Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, Douglas County Dental Clinic, fluoride varnish, children, poverty, low-income
Comments
kbritt (Karrey Britt) says…
Today's clinic was canceled due to inclement weather. The health department and dental clinic are still planning to have the Jan. 25 clinic.
dontsheep (Gabe Hunninghake) says…
Any change to this in light of the new federal recommendation that children are receiving too much fluoride?
kbritt (Karrey Britt) replies…
Thanks for the question. I am checking with the health department and dental clinic.
dontsheep (Gabe Hunninghake) says…
Thanks Karrey. I'd be shocked if the answer was anything besides "no change in plans".
JewlLi (Julie Branstrom) says…
The new regulations apply only to fluoride in drinking water. The fluoride varnish is a topical application to the teeth and very little fluoride is actually ingested. Studies show that receiving a fluoride varnish three times a year significantly decreases cavities in children. The event will go on as planned.
dontsheep (Gabe Hunninghake) says…
Thanks Julie.
Our gums absorb very effectively. I'd think patients leave the treatment with much more fluoride in their system then when they arrived.
Any chance you could provide links to those studies? I'm curious who funded them because history is full of examples where studies showed and then the truth became painfully apparent too late. Smoking, asbestos, lead, etc.
For over 30 yrs the anti-fluoride crowd has been saying this would happen. But the ADA, CDC, etc all said fluoride was totally safe in acceptable levels. What happened to the previous studies?
JewlLi (Julie Branstrom) says…
Hi Gabe,
Here are some links with information regarding the effectiveness of fluoride in the prevention of decay and one specifically that addresses the effectiveness of fluoride varnish.
http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?...
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealth/t...
http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/pdf/n...
The vast majority of children that we hope to see for fluoride varnishes at these events are at high risk for dental caries. We see many of these children in the clinic every week and have confidence that the benefits of fluoride on the prevention of dental caries outweigh the possible risks. I'll ask some of my dental professional staff to hop on here with their 2 cents!
hblick (anonymous) says…
As a dental hygienist, I see the new recommendations as a positive change. In the past, children only received fluoride through drinking water and prepared food. Now through better access to care and the delivery of new dental products, children have access to fluoride by other means. I routinely see the ravages of rampant and gross dental decay in children that create debilitating effects such as infection, pain, inability to learn, premature loss of teeth and so on. The benefits of fluoride far out way the risk associated with ingestion of large amounts of fluoride.
The past recommendations of fluoride in the drinking water ranged from 0.7ppm to 1.2ppm depending on the climate. The new recommendations are for 0.7ppm because studies indicate climate does not affect the amount of water people drink as once thought. Lawrence has a range of 0.48 -0.91ppm.
The fluoride clinics being offered by the Douglas County Dental Clinic and the Health Dept are targeting those children at high risk of caries, i.e. low income children. There is strong evidence for an inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and prevalence of caries among children less than 12yr age. With all the new science associating good oral health with good overall health the importance of preventing dental disease is vital.
I’m curious as to the studies that show the number of children who are diagnosed with fluorosis vs. those children diagnosed with dental decay. Just by being in community health my guess would be dental decay is diagnosed in much larger numbers than dental fluorosis. Everything in moderation is key. There is risk associated with everything we do but it is important to look at the larger picture. I know preventing dental disease is important for overall health and the new recommendation on fluoride in the drinking water just reinforces the need to continue to adjust in light of ever changing science.
cleiszler (Chris Leiszler) says…
As Julie previously mentioned, the federal recommendations are in regard to drinking water, not fluoride treatments. All knowledgeable sources on the topic will concur that fluoride treatments such as those being offered at the walk-in clinic are very beneficial, especially to those children who are at high risk of developing tooth decay. I don't have time to go hunting for sources, but I can assure you that multiple studies have been done showing the efficacy and safety of fluoride varnishes when given 2-3 times a year. If however, drinking water, that is ingested DAILY, contains a higher fluoride content, that can do some (minor) damage over time. (And by minor, I mean white spots that show up on the teeth.) While the fluoride levels in drinking water are at a safe level, it is becoming more common for fluoride to be found in other things these days. This is why the federal government suggested lowering the levels in drinking water. It has absolutely nothing to do with new evidence showing that fluoride is more harmful than previously thought. Unfortunately, the "fluoride conspirists" are going to take this and run with it, and try to manipulate stats and create a crisis that doesn't really exist. Just my $0.02. -Chris Leiszler, DDS