I work at a dental office and can tell you that the polishing paste should not have any starch in it. It is mostly pumice powder (finely ground pumice stone). If you are worried about the flouride, you can ask for them to use just the pumice powder/flour instead of the regular polishing paste. I personally use as much fluoride as possible to strengthen my teeth. I am much more concerned about losing my teeth than the possible fluoridosis. Fluoride works as a vehicle to allow your teeth to use the calcium and magnesium needed to create/maintain strong teeth. Your saliva naturally has calcium and magnesium in it, but your teeth can't absorb it well without the fluoride. It's kind of like how you need Vitamin D to better absorb/use calcium. A lot of us have dry mouth from medicines or Sjogrens and aren't producing much saliva, so the fluoride helps us use what little we have. I also have trouble sitting in the chair with my mouth open for a long time. I don't do too bad with cleanings, but having fillings done just kills me! I now take some kind of muscle relaxer or use the nitrous to relax my muscles when having something done. When you said you were feeling flu-like symptoms, it made me more concerned, though. Cleanings can dislodge infection into the bloodstream. It does not happen that often, but does happen. My husband worked with someone who got really sick for no apparent reason and died. He was in his 30's and a very healthy, active guy. It wasn't until they did the autopsy that they figured out he died from bacterial endocarditis. (Inflammation of the lining of the heart caused by bacteria in the bloodstream). He had just had a cleaning at the dentist before he got sick. The sad part was that if they had figured it out sooner, all he needed was antibiotics. So, if symptoms get worse, please get it checked out! There is a lot of controversy about whether or not to premedicate with antibiotics. Some think that the overuse of antibiotics is the cause of the new drug-resistant strains of bacteria and don't want to premedicate patients unless absolutely necessary. I hope you get feeling better!
