I am a dental hygienist. I live in a county that is not fluoridated. The dentists would prescribe fluoride pills and we would apply topical fluoride in the office. The county next to ours is fluoridated. Fluoridated water tastes horrible. Pittsburgh is in this county. In the 1960’s, Pittsburgh started fluoridating the water. Before that, the University of Pittsburgh Dental School was packed with kids who had rotting teeth. Fluoride DOES work. But I believe that people today are over-fluoridated. The “optimum level” of fluoride in the water was considered 1 part per million (ppm). They put less in the water in the summer, because they believe you are drinking more water. From my experience, kids today don’t drink very much tap water. I believe that they are overingesting the flouride from their toothpaste or anti-cavity mouthwash.
Our former governor in PA, Ed Rendell, signed a law stating that any community in PA with more than 500 households must have a fluoridated public water supply. This hasn’t been implemented yet.
I haven’t heard anyone mention Xylitol on this tread. It is very good at inhibiting plaque bacteria and preventing tooth decay. It is often used as a sweetener in sugarless gum.
I forgot to mention that ingested fluoride only strengthens teeth that are still forming. Adults have no use for fluoridated water. Calcium hydroxyapatite, the building blocks of teeth and bones, binds with the fluoride ion to form calcium fluorapatite. It is more dense, therefore resists demineralization from plaque acids and reduces tooth decay.