For how we live.
Fluoride toothpaste is the home foundation, with a Cochrane prevented fraction of 24%. At the dentist, fluoride varnish and resin sealants have the strongest trial record — but the evidence is only moderate.
Decades of randomised trials give fluoride toothpaste a prevented fraction Cochrane puts at 24%. Concentration and how you brush change the size of the benefit — but no over-the-counter rival has evidence like it.
In 5,520 children across 34 states, prenatal exposure to regulated public-water fluoride showed no association with emotional or behavioural problems overall — with one caveat in a secondary model.
Cochrane's 2024 review found low-certainty evidence of a small effect since fluoride toothpaste became widespread. The IQ meta-analysis that reopened the argument reported a null below 1.5 mg/L in one key analysis.
Oil pulling and miswak have real short-term data on plaque and gum inflammation. Charcoal dentifrices have almost none, and a third of the products reviewed contained bentonite clay.