subscribe to beauty blog via RSSDr. Lowenberg On Drinking Straight From The Tap
March 12, 2009 3:55 pm
This column features weekly tips and advice from a revolving cast of industry leaders, on hand to discuss your beauty dilemmas, from blemishes to Botox. To submit a question, e-mail celia_ellenberg@condenast.com.
I’ve heard that drinking tap water is actually preferable to bottled water, in order to benefit from the minerals that are filtered out of the purified stuff. Is this true? And if I stay the bottled-water course, what kind of mineral supplements should I be taking to keep my teeth healthy?
In states like New York, the public water is fluoridated, meaning there is fluoride in the water. Over decades of use of fluoridated water, dentists have seen a decrease in cavities among the general population with access to it, as fluoride in one form or another combines with the molecular structure of enamel and makes it harder and hence more cavity resistant. Since bottled water does not contain fluoride, people who raise their children on non-fluoridated water are often advised to give them fluoride tablets. But there is some dissension in dentistry regarding this issue. My personal opinion is that while fluoridated water has been shown to greatly reduce cavities in young children as well as adults, I prefer bottled water, providing you use other means of strengthening your enamel such as a fluoridated toothpaste or mouthwash. Listerine Total Care is an example of an anti-cavity fluoride mouth rinse that will help fight tooth decay for advocates of bottled water.
As a leader in the cosmetic dentistry movement, Dr. Marc Lowenberg is renowned in celebrity circles for an artistic ability to perfect his patients’ smiles, bearing in mind their individual facial structure and personality. Making regular appearances on television programs like Extreme Makeover, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Live With Regis and Kelly, the Today show, and Good Morning America, Dr. Lowenberg is also a popular fixture on the lecture circuit—and in New York, where he runs a private practice with his partner, Dr. Gregg Lituchy.
tags: Dr. Marc Lowenberg, Fluoride, Listerine Total Care, Teeth
