Adult toothpaste for small children

[pommie]

sorry i meant to say that certain adult ones are fine for fluroide in them for kids. Apparenty mild ones like sainsburys, tescos own brands are fine for kids

[Polmoche]

Not to mention, your child can get the bad teeth gene. My daughter had 4 cavities by age 2!!! She drank nothing but water, milk, breast milk back then, and never gave her sweets/or even raisins back in the day. I consulted 3 dentists and they all assured me some of us are just born with teeth that are more prone to decay than others. :(

[Fuschia]

tiddles Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> my kids are a bit older (8 and 12) and have never

> had fillings however the dentist advised adult

> toothpaste for them now as the fluoride content

> is higher -but the problem is I have not yet found

> a mild mint adult toothpaste, they all seem to be

> super 'fresh' which = strong mint. can anyone

> suggest a mild mint adult toothpaste as I am

> amazed that I cannot find one!

aquafresh Big Teeth has 1400ppm - as much as a strong adult toothpaste and is mild tasting

[lorraineliyanage]

Any tips on how to get my toddler to brush her teeth instead of just sucking the toothpaste off the brush? She absolutely refuses to let me brush her teeth, just happily sucks all the toothpaste off, then flings her toothbrush into a corner.

[The Nappy Lady]

L

see my earlier post re lying them down between your legs, it does work honest.

If C behaves I reward her by letting her then "do" teeth herself. She likes to stand on a step at the sink pretending to brush then spit into sink like her big Sis. Very funny to watch.

M

x

[lorraineliyanage]

hi molly, i'll give that a go in the morning and let you know how it works out. i've tried something similar in the bath with her as we often bathe together and she usually freaks out when i touch her head and starts thrashing around. i'll try it out of the bath as i suspect it might be as she's not keen on getting her head or face wet.

[nicolemodesti]

This is interesting and obviously a debate within health professionals. My hygienist and dentist friends, in Harley Street, recommend not to use adult toothpaste due to a possibility of mottling, streaks etc on the permanent teeth, that are forming in the bones. Apparently fluoride content is too high especially with swallowing. Was the same advice when I worked in dental nursing 10 years ago so I checked for our son when teeth brushing began.

[Keef]

Sorry if I'm repeating something, as I've not ploughed through all the posts.

My wife took our daughter for her 8 month check recently, and was given a tube of Colgate cavity protection (or something like that), and told that that was what they were recommending these days.

Our daughter hasn't got any teeth yet though, so no experience of trying it.

[ClareC]

Just found this thread.....

At my daughters 8mth check the Health visitor gave me a mini toothbrush and tube of normal Colgate. I questioned this at the time since we had until that point used baby toothpaste. I was told the current advice was to use adult toothpaste. From that point on we have done just that.

First trip to the dentist the other day, dentist extremely firm and very definite that on no account should we use adult toothpaste for her. advised to use 0-3 toothpaste.

I just googled this and it seems the risk is discoloration. This thread also popped up.

Glad I've seen the thread as good to know I'm not the only one being advised two different things. Am thinking the dentist is the one whose advice should be followed but am now feeling paranoid about using adult toothpaste for the last 14 mths!!

Does anyone know how high the risk is and why the health visitors are going against dental advice.

I'm really annoyed, feel as though you can't trust any advice without researching yourself!! Will feel so bad if I've ruined her teeth. They look perfect at the moment, how long does it take before the discoloration occurs?

Feeling very paranoid :(

Anyone know the true risk/facts?

[pripolla]

In my experience, sometimes the health visitor is not right... Also, I've heard from a dentist (in my home country) that the discolouration occurs when kids get their permanent teeth(i.e. not the milk teeth).

[Fuschia]

While I don't put great store by individual hvs, the toothpaste they give out is part of some scheme, surely?

How much fluoride was it? The toothpaste I use is 1000 ppm - same as the 0-3 toothpaste our baby has

Twins at age 3 now use 4-6 toothpaste 1400 ppm at suggestion of dentist

So don't panic

[poppy]

I don't think it's just that health visitors are misinformed - I suspect that there is debate amongst dentists themselves. I remember being told by a paediatric dentist from Kings to use adult toothpaste because they need 1400 ppm fluoride, and then when I took my son to his first dental check up at 16months a different dentist told me that that was too strong and to stick to kid's toothpaste. Very confusing! Incidentally my son does have a couple of small white marks on his front teeth which I can only attribute to the adult toothpaste - so upsetting when you are only trying to do the best for your children:(

Needless to say we are now on kiddie toothpaste - I figure as long as he gets teeth brushed twice a day, regular check-ups and limited sugar we can't go too wrong (fingers crossed).

PS Thanks for the toothbrushing tips Molly! I also find tickling works (a quick brush while they are laughing their heads off)

Edited to add: both times I was told just to use the tiniest smear of toothpaste for babies and toddlers - just cover the little blue spot on the Colgate baby brushes - so with such a tiny amount perhaps the difference in strengths of toothpaste is actually fairly negligible anyway??

[Fuschia]

http://www.dentalhealth.org/tell-me-about/topic/children-s-teeth/children-s-teeth

'All children up to 3 years old, should use a toothpaste with a fluoride level of at least 1000ppm (parts per million). After three years old, they should use a toothpaste that contains 1350ppm-1500ppm.'

[mima08]

So far we've been only sticking to to using a brush & water, but this thread makes me think we need to step up the game and start with toothpaste too....

However, I am very unsure about which type to use - I looked at the links above and the UK recommendations, but also noted that in other countries (Germany in my case) the advice is different. Over there, the official recommendation is to use toothpaste with less than 500ppm for children under 6 years (!) with various convincing arguments... Arrrrggghhh - why is it never easy?

[ClareC]

If it helps any the dentist (young so presumably up to date with current teaching) recommended aqua fresh 0-3

I will look and see the strength and let you know.

Thanks for all the comments everyone, certainly seems to be one of those areas where whatever you do could be wrong!!

[jollybaby]

I tend to take the line that when there's so much conflicting advice on something- there's probably no right answer. I think it is more important to try to encourage a good brushing technique.

[ClareC]

I'm with you there!

The recommended toothpaste is 1000 ppm btw.

Don't remember having child toothpaste when I was small and my teeth all good :-)

[slh2009]

I've read this with interest as have also been given conflicting advice! At a postnatal group run by health visitors I attended, we were advised by a paediatric dentist from Kings to use adult toothpaste as soon as teeth appear. However my dentist who I've been seeing for some years now and trust implicitly, has just told me that the worst thing I can do for my just one year old is use ANY fluoride at all! This is due to adult teeth forming at this time and the fluoride can create white marks on the teeth. He said that after 18 months- 2 years it is ok to use milk teeth toothpaste. So I have gone back to using just water for now. It is all so confusing as even the British dental website advises using some toothpaste!

[Saffron]

Interesting that this thread has come up again. We've been having toothpaste woes here too, but of a slightly different kind. I have a sensitivity to the surfactants sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and sodium lareth sulphate (SLeS), especially in toothpaste where it gives me mouth ulcers. I always buy adult toothpaste for myself w/o SLS/SLeS. I recently ran out, and I just used Little Saff's toddler toothpaste for a week thinking I would be fine. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. I came out in a hideously painful round of mouth ulcers that lasted for 2 weeks.

On that note, I decided Little Saff shouldn't have SLS/SLeS in her toothpaste either. The only children's toothpaste I could find that did not contain SLS/SLeS was Sensodyne ProNamel. I bought the ProNamel adult for me, and the ProNamel children's toothpaste for her. On comparing the flavour, we both like hers better! On comparing the ingrdients, both have 1450ppm fluoride. However, the children's toothpaste has less ingredients. The adult toothpaste has potassium nitriate (to reduce sensitivity in adult teeth) and sodium saccharin (a sweeetener). Whereas, the children's toothpaste has neither, but contains instead the sweetener sucralose.

So it would appear that the Great Toothpaste Debate doesn't simply end with fluoride. We may need to consider what other ingredients are in our toothpastes. For now I'm sticking with the chilren's ProNamel for Little Saff. Mindful of the fact that it has 1450ppm fluoride, we'll only use a smear (as the package suggests for toddlers), balanced with the fact that we only get her teeth successfully brushed about once a week anyway (oh dear!).

[The Nappy Lady]

I think the key thing is to bear in mind that tooth care & knowledge is now us about a zillion times better than it was when we were children & as for generations before us....well.

All I can say is I used the 0-3, then 4-6 toothpaste on my now 7 year old & she's had no cavities as yet & her 2nd teeth are coming through fine & unmarked so far. We were obsessive about brushing twice a day & she uses the children's mouthwash sometimes too now & also we always see the dentist every 6 months without fail.

I hate the way parenting advice can vary so much & cause real angst at times & I think sometimes it means we all end up over obsessing somewhat over this stuff IYKWIM. Not surprising really as we are trying to do the very best for our little ones.

I think (but may be wrong) that teeth can also come through with marks if children have ever fallen & knocked their gums?? No idea where this questionable knowledge comes from but wanted to pass on for the earlier poster who is feeling guilty about using the wrong toothpaste.

This thread really highlights how very confusing it can be to be a parent!!

[Saffron]

Never heard that about teeth being marked by physical damage. Very interesting. It happens to fingernails, so of course why not teeth? Also, some marks on teeth can be temporary and are caused by dehydration of the enamel. I think the main culprit is whitening agents, so switch to a 'gentler' toothpaste w/o these for a while to see if it makes a difference. Not sure, but I think an acidic diet (e.g. lots of fruit juice/tea/coffee) can dehydrate enamel too.

[Saila]

not sure if it's the enamel itself that's dehydrated - perhaps if we're dehydrated, then we have less saliva to protect, or neutralise, the acid found in juice drinks etc it's the acid that disolves the enamel and drinks are packed full of acid - citric acid is after all vitamin C.

Caffeine can cause dehydration as it's a diuretic - drinks that contain caffeine are also known to stain teeth

- i'm guessing this is right but this is going back a few years for me!

[Saffron]

Yes, the enamel itself is porous and can become dehydrated (from my SIL who is a dental surgeon). But also as you say above, dehydration of the body in general can lessen saliva flow, leading to high oral acidity which damages teeth in many ways.