It is used in trace amounts in the fluoridation of drinking water to prevent tooth decay, and in toothpastes and topical pharmaceuticals for the same purpose.

Fluoride salts are often added to municipal drinking water (as well as to certain food products in some countries) for the purpose of maintaining dental health.

This supplementation does not appear to be effective; even though sodium fluoride increases bone density, it does not decrease the risk of fractures.

[15] Relative to conventional bone scintigraphy carried out with gamma cameras or SPECT systems, PET offers more sensitivity and spatial resolution.

Fluorine-18 has a half-life of 110 min, which requires it to be used promptly once produced; this logistical limitation hampered its adoption in the face of the more convenient technetium-99m-labelled radiopharmaceuticals.

[21] Sodium fluoride, patented as an insecticide in 1896, was commonly used through the 1970s on ants and other domestic pests,[22] and as a stomach poison for plant-feeding insects.

[23] Its use, along with that of sodium fluorosilicate, declined over the 20th century as the products were banned or restricted due to the possibility of poisoning, intentional or accidental.

High ingestion of fluoride salts or hydrofluoric acid may result in fatal arrhythmias due to profound hypocalcemia.

Slow-release and enteric-coated versions of sodium fluoride do not have significant gastric side effects, and have milder and less frequent complications in the bones.

[30] In the lower doses used for water fluoridation, the only clear adverse effect is dental fluorosis, which can alter the appearance of children's teeth during tooth development.