Have you ever wondered how much toothpaste to put on your child’s toothbrush?
Have you ever asked yourself which toothpaste your child should be using?
Today’s oral hygiene product market is flooded with many different types of toothpastes so these become common questions that parents ponder when deciding which toothpaste to use.
It all starts with fluoride. Fluoride is the active ingredient in our toothpaste that keeps our teeth healthy and more decay resistant. Past studies have lead to the formation of guidelines which indicate the age at which children should be using low fluoride (400-500ppm), adult strength fluoride (1000-1500ppm) or high fluoride containing toothpastes (5000ppm).
Although beneficial for your teeth, if ingested in high quantities during the age at which the adult teeth are forming, fluoride can affect enamel formation to cause irregularities in the colour, shape and texture of your child’s tooth.
The Australian guidelines for the use of fluoride toothpaste are:
• Children up to 17 months of age: no toothpaste should be used
• Children aged 18 months to 5 years use a ‘pea sized’ amount of low fluoride toothpaste
• Children aged 6 years and over, use adult strength toothpaste (1000-1500ppm)
Sometimes our dentists at Concord Dental Practice may recommend a high fluoride toothpaste - this is often the case for those children who have multiple holes in their teeth.
Children should be supervised whilst tooth brushing until 7-8 years of age to ensure that the toothpaste is not ingested. Children should also be encouraged to spit out excess paste and to brush at least twice a day - once in the morning and then after dinner before bed, using a soft toothbrush.