Advice on toddler toothpaste please (Toothsmith?)

[Deleted User]

I would appreciate some input and advice on my question please as i've previously read some threads on here about teeth and toothpaste but i can't remember exactly what was said, as it didn't apply at the time. If Toothsmith is around and could contribute then that would be fantastic. Thank you, as it was one of your comments that stuck, just not the ages.

I have a 3 and 3/4 y r old and 2 and half yr old. They are both currently using toothpaste aimed at 0-3yr olds (1000ppm), I know the older one could have the 2-4yr old one, but i don't want 3 seperate pastes in the bathroom, plus the younger one wants to have and do exactly the same.

However on a sleepover at my parents, Jack (3) discovered Aquafresh stripey paste and my parents sent it back with him to have as he was so excited about it. So for the last few days he's been using that its 1450ppm. Is that ok for his teeth and if my 2yr old notices and wants to be the same, it that ok or should i just remove it completely and wait till they are older.

At the moment, I have to treat them the same in everything as they are so close in age, my 2 year old doesnt see the subtle differences in their age gap and i'm sure she thinks she's 3. She likes to copy him in everything she does, even little things like what shoes he's wearing to if he is eating with a fork, she'll swap from her spoon. Little Miss Copycat.

Anyway that aside, i dont want to do early damage to their teeth but using an adult toothpaste too early. What would you do?

Thanks.

snapping_crocodile

You can use adult toothpaste as soon as their teeth appear and you start to brush them. Obviously only use a little pea sized blob, but the higher fluoride content wont damage their teeth. The children's toothpastes are meerly a gimmick!!

Toothfairy4

For toddlers you should put a tiny amount smeared into the brush with your finger and let them brush with that. Supervise to make sure they aren't swallowing any of it. Lower fluoride toothpaste is advised for kids due to the fact that some like to swallow it so as long as they don't do that it should be fine, as I say your only using a tiny amount anyway so the risk is very low even if they did swallow it. Just to be safe though keep it out of reach incase one takes a notion to eat some. I know you probably do most of that anyway!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that information, we do only use a small amount anyway but more often than not they suck it off the brush before i can do anything about it and they very rarely spit the excess foam out so swallow it. I didn't realise this was something i should be actively discouraging, i just thought they would outgrow it as they got older. I think this habit started when my daughter was about 1yr and got her first tooth, she hated it being brushed, so we started doing it in front of tv for distraction. That was so effective, teethbrushing is now more often than not away from the bathroom sink, esp if we are running late and i just quickly do them whilst they sit on the sofa.

I clearly need to revise things. Thanks.

freda

I have a similar age gap, and haven't used children's toothpaste for years, on the advice of a teeth specialist at a HV clinic. She said as we live in an area where there is no flouride in the water, it was good to use the adult toothpaste.

So we use the plain aquafresh - not the whitening / freshening versions.

I put way, way less than a pea sized amount on though - literally a smear on the bristles. They brush first and swallow most of it, then I brush - I think as long as there is enough toothpaste left in their mouth to foam a bit while I brush it must be doing some good.

Maybe, I should brush first, but I think as long as there is flouride in their mouths it probably gets distributed around well enough when I do get second shots at brushing.

Dentist seemed happy enough with them when she last saw them.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Freda, that is a similar problem i have, they both want to have a go first, if we are in the bathroom, wetting the brush under the tap as well.

I think hubbie and i are going to have to stop being lazy and get them both back in the bathroom twice a day. At least we have been brushing their teeth twice daily and our dentist was more than happy when she saw us last month.

Toothsmith

I'm not a fan of 'kids' toothpastes at all.

There is no need to have a 'low fluoride' toothpaste. For all the advances in dental care - it is still probably fluoride in toothpaste that is the biggest reason for the improvement in people keeping more of their teeth for longer over the last 40-50 years.

In the early 90s, somebody had the idea that kids needed a lower fluoride toothpaste, and for a few years there was a 'blip' in the figures where decay dramatically increased. Thankfully, that little fad is now coming to an end.

Everyone should use an adult toothpaste with minimum 1350ppm fluoride.

In kids with a poor ability to spit out though, just a very tiny smear should be used. As kids develop the ability to spit out, you can use slightly more, but even an adult should use no more than a small pea sized blob. (It's the marketing departments of the toothpaste companies that show a good sized splurge on the brush in order to sell more toothpaste - that amount is completely unecessary).

One further thing to add is that rinsing out after brushing is now thought to be best not done. If you don't rinse out, then the fluoride in the toothpaste is against the teeth for much longer, and so has a more beneficial effect on the teeth. Particularly so at night, when the mouth has less saliva in it, and so the paste is against the teeth for even longer.

It's true to say that fluoride in overdose is poisonous. To achieve a fatal dose though, even a small child would have to eat many tubes of toothpaste. Probably more than you'd find in a small shop! Eating a couple of tubes might well give them quite an upset tummy. Swallowing quite large amounts on a regular basis (several times a day) could well cause flecking or mottling of the adult teeth if done whilst they're developing. Using a tiny smear of adult toothpaste a couple of times a day is not going to cause a problem, even if it's all swallowed.

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much Toothsmith, that has really put my mind at rest, fantastic, i'm also going to show this to some of my friends.

Homer Simpson toothpaste is now going in the bin, Aquafresh it is!

Many thanks to everyone for their replies and esp to Toothfairy,Freda and Toothsmith. Moneysaving as well.

Furny

I was thinking this the other day when shopping for how long i needed to buy these gimmicky toothpastes that you end up paying over a £1 for when my big aquafresh doesn't cost that!.Question answered. Won't tell DS considering he's just got a new Ben 10 toothpaste, when its run out i'll put aquafresh on when he's not watching!;)

Tigsteroonie

Thanks for the thread. I had read that normal toothpaste was acceptable for our littl'un now that he has (three) teeth, but am still concerned about the "spitting out" - there's no way a one-year-old (who is about 6m developmentally) is going to understand that concept!

Loopy_Girl

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Thanks for the thread. I had read that normal toothpaste was acceptable for our littl'un now that he has (three) teeth, but am still concerned about the "spitting out" - there's no way a one-year-old (who is about 6m developmentally) is going to understand that concept!

Of course he is not. That's why you give the teeniest of smears of paste.

As the children get older and get the spitting reflex (and indeed more teeth) then the amount of toothpaste can be increased ever so slightly.

Don't worry about it at that age. It is far more important for baby to get used to the texture of a brush in his mouth and also the taste of the toothpaste (start off minty and then there's no tears when lurid sparkly raspberry flavoured gel is out of stock;)).

You would have to ingest mountains of flouride for there to be any effect. Like everything, the guidelines are there to assist. It would be foolish to think that even us as adults don't swallow some toothpaste.

I tell my kids in my nurseries and schools to spit out but when I go to get the toothbrushes off them to put back in the bus, the sink is suspiciously clean and dry!!!

Totally echo what Toothsmith said...the mantra now is 'Spit, Don't Rinse'...quick wipe of the mouth is all that is needed. I tell my kids I work with (and my own DD) that it's the 'magic bubbles' working to make the teeth nice and strong