About us Mō mātou

About the Ministry of Health and the New Zealand health system. 

Regulation & legislation Ngā here me ngā ture

Health providers and products we regulate, and laws we administer.

Strategies & initiatives He rautaki, he tūmahi hou

How we’re working to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders.

Māori health Hauora Māori

Increasing access to health services, achieving equity and improving outcomes for Māori.

Statistics & research He tatauranga, he rangahau

Data and insights from our health surveys, research and monitoring.

Summary

The ‘Guidelines for the Use of Fluorides’ provide an evidence-based summary of current New Zealand and overseas evidence to inform best practice in the use of fluoride.

These guidelines address the use of topical fluoride treatments including fluoride toothpastes, fluoride varnishes, fluoride mouth rinses, fluoride gels and foams and also for the use of fluoride tablets.

An update to the guidelines recommends that 1,000 ppm fluoride toothpaste is used for children of all ages. A 2015 Cochrane review found limited evidence of any caries preventive effect following use of toothpaste with less than 1,000 ppm fluoride. More information is available on the Medsafe website:

Publishing information

Publication date
Citation

New Zealand Guidelines Group. Guidelines for the Use of Fluorides. 2009. Wellington: Ministry of Health.

ISBN
978-0-478-31972-9 (online) 978-0-478-33930-7 (print)
HP number
4952
Copyright status

Owned by the Ministry of Health and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

© Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora