I wanted to see what dentists have prescribed to others for their teeth. I've done some digging and it seems most dentists have prescribed fluoride tray use every day but a good amount of previous posts did not say for how long each day.

My dentist gave my fluoride trays and told me to put them in 1x per week for 30 minutes and then no water/food for 30 additional minutes. She gave me Oxyfresh sodium fluoride 0.22% to use. I asked her about using it every day and she said I have good teeth with no issues and she thinks it is overkill, but if I wanted to I could do it daily.

I wanted to see what others do and if potentially this is a sign my current dentist may not be the best person to manage my dental care post radiation.

Thanks

At our hospital, the dental oncologists recommend five minutes daily followed by one hour of not eating and drinking. It will be for life.

Hi Andrew,

Many of us, including myself, have been told to use them daily for life for at least 5 minutes though there are some variations for others. I do mine for 7-10 minutes each night before I go to bed.

There are a few other threads on the forums on this topic, so you could search 'flouride' to see previous activity.

Regards,
Nancy

I started using 1.1% Sodium Fluoride one month before radiation began and continued for 5 years post Tx. I had near perfect teeth to begin with and I still do today some 7 years post Tx. My dentist told me to apply a thin strip in each tray, upper & lower and put them in for 30 mins each night right before I went to bed. I was able to do probably 95% of the Tx time and afterwards. Some nights I couldn't because of the pain and some nights I couldn't find them because of my cats but that's another story!

I found Cypress at my pharm which is/was substantially cheaper than most of the other products I found.

HI... ditto what everyone else here has said. They should be used daily, for 5 minutes followed by 1 hour of no food or drink.

Hi Andrew,

My dentist recommended I use a kid's fluoride rinse (Listerine) as opposed to trays. I use it twice a day (am and pm) after brushing. It has a pleasant taste and doesn't hurt my mouth.

"T"

Hi, Andrew -

My dentist/prosthodontist said to leave them in for 10 minutes (at night, after brushing and flossing) and then not to eat or drink at all after that. He knows some dentists say it's okay to drink water an hour after, but my guy prefers that I don't.

You've gotten a lot of good advice from others here, too. It sounds like everybody does it a little bit differently!

My ENT and MO have me use them nightly for at least five minutes each night for life, I use 1.1% flouride!!! Semper-Fi Bob

Thanks for all the replies. I'll check locally for some 1.1% fluoride and switch to daily use, seems like it cant hurt.

My dentist and hygienist told me the same thing. Five minutes everyday with nothing to eat or drink at least a half hour after. Also, I will be doing this for life.

I was told 4 minutes with the trays followed by nothing for half an hour. I do it just before bed so I'm not tempted to drink anything. But some months ago my dentist suggested that I might not need to do it every night but rather to brush with the stuff (I use Prevident) and do the trays once or twice a week. But my oncologist seemed to think I should keep up the trays. I'm following her advice, though once a week or so I might skip the trays and just brush with it.

Just to be different, I can only imagine what flouride trays are like. No mention of them for me here in the UK. But right from the start I was prescribed Duraphat 2800ppm Flouride toothpaste (0.619% Sodium flouride) and told to use it 2-3 times a day with no water rinse after, or food or water for half an hour. The main emphasis was on good dental hygiene particularly flossing before bed. Also it was stressed to avoid sugary or acidic drinks (ie fruit juice, even lemon in water is a very bad for teeth)unless eating at the same time. Milk is OK.

As I am very worried about the future possibility of osteoradionecrosis (ORN)I am very careful about what I drink. I clean my teeth after each meal and use a sodium bicarb mouth rinse frequently and when I remeber I use a saliva replacement get to before eating to give my teeth a bit more protection.

David,

I started with Prevident at the time costing like $20 a tube but I found Cypress for appx $8 a tube so being a faithful CPA I switched quickly with my dentist's permission of course.

Thanks, David. You'd mentioned Cypress before and I believe I looked into it. Must not have been an option for some reason or I certainly would have switched. Anywho I'll ask my dental office again next time I'm there. Believe I pay them 11 bucks for Prevident, but you don't need to be a CPA to do your math on the other product.

[quote=davidcpa]David,

I found Cypress for appx $8 a tube so being a faithful CPA I switched quickly with my dentist's permission of course. [/quote]Is this found at the national drug chains or some more specialist pharmacies?

Yes I got my prescription filled at Walgreens for Cypress.