And that's just in the pediatric population that's only had their teeth for a few years. The benefit in fluoride is in the long game, not just in preventing decay (which it measurably does), but also in preserving the repairs that you do end up having. Adhering to more mineralized teeth means that fillings and crowns will have a longer service life.

Your post could be clearer about how you came to the "one lifetime filling" conclusion. I don't think you're being intentionally misleading, but this is a good example of how internet health claims go awry. While you began your post with statistics and journal data, your bottom line conclusion — which is more remembered — is the result of your own independent AI query. If one of your patients presented that to you in order to inform their compliance with your recommendations, you'd likely find it less credible.

Here are journal entries on the benefit of fluoride being a 20-25% reduction in decay rate for both children and adults.

Griffin SO, Regnier E, Griffin PM, Huntley VN. Effectiveness of fluoride in preventing caries in adults. J Dent Res. 2007;86(5):410–414.

Iheozor-Ejiofor Z, Worthington HV, Walsh T, et al. Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries. Cochrane Database of Syst Rev. 2015;(6). Art. No.: CD010856. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010856.pub2.