fluoridatev.
/ˈflʊərᵻdeɪt/, /ˈflɔːrᵻdeɪt/, U.S. /ˈflʊrəˌdeɪt/, /ˈflɔrəˌdeɪt/ 1. transitive. To add fluoride to (drinking water, toothpaste, etc.), in order to prevent or reduce tooth decay. Also intransitive. Cf. fluoridation n. 2, and earlier fluorinate v. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > impregnation of substances with medicaments > medicate [verb (transitive)] > with specific substance
fluorinate1945
fluoridate1949
1949 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Public Health Dentists Aug. 12/1 Many cities throughout the nation..have taken or are taking steps to fluoridate their water supplies.
1964 D. H. Goose & R. L. Hartles Princ. Preventive Dentistry vi. 93 Tablets containing about 1 mg of fluoride have been used..as a means of fluoridating the daily water supply at home.
1996 Independent 12 Nov. ii. 11/2 At the moment, some 5.5 million people in Britain, most of them in the West Midlands and North-east, are drinking water which has been artificially fluoridated.
2. transitive. To treat (teeth) with a topical preparation containing fluoride. Cf. fluoridation n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > practise dentistry [verb (transitive)] > other dental procedures
scale1840
fluoridize1940
fluoridate1963
1963 Brit. Dental Jrnl. 114 219 If teeth are fluoridated topically with strong solutions, mostly protective fluorides are formed initially.
1975 Amer. Jrnl. Orthodontics 67 677 After band removal, the opened interproximal spaces provide a rare opportunity to fluoridate the otherwise inaccessible tight proximal enamel surfaces.
2009 A. Ripstein Force & Freedom ii. 44 As your dentist, I use the opportunity created by filling one of your (many) cavities to surreptitiously fluoridate your teeth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1949