What Is Dental Caries – and Why We Need Fluoride
Livia M.A. Tenuta · 2026
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Description
Livia M.A. Tenuta writes, in a 2026 editorial, to reframe what dental caries is and why fluoride remains central to controlling it. Tooth decay affects nearly everyone at some point, yet it is preventable across a lifetime with tools already available. That tension, she argues, comes from how the disease is defined.
Classic diagrams explain decay through three overlapping factors: the tooth host, mouth microbes and dietary sugar. Such models leave out fluoride. Without bacterial film and sugar, lesions would not form, but in practice most control strategies rely on fluoride. Its protective effect was noticed a century ago in people with mottled enamel. Modern evidence shows fluoride works mainly at the tooth surface whenever it is present in mouth fluids, at any age, rather than by strengthening teeth during formation.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Livia M.A. Tenuta |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 16 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |