Feasibility of the Combined Use of Fluorides

An increase in the number of methods of fluoride administration over and above traditional modes, while offering new caries-preventive possibilities, has also created problems. These cannot be solved by the purely scientific, objective approach, since emotional resistance to fluoride has increased in some countries in parallel to environmental pollution. In most of the highly developed countries, the decrease of caries prevalence has dramatically lowered the number of children in need of concentrated preventive programs. On the other hand, dental awareness and multiple sources of fluoride have increased the risk of chronic fluoride overdosage. Means to avoid the latter problem are discussed. In addition to community-delivered fluoridation programs, individual counseling and “tailor-made” preventive measures are of increasing importance.