Free toothpaste from dentist?

[jennymanara]

I am simply curious about this.
I care for a relative with schizophrenia. That has involved over the years accompanying them to a lot of appointments, and dealing with good and bad medical staff. But one thing I have not had to worry about for years is the dentist. My relative goes to an amazing dentist who has better skills at dealing with them than some psychiatrists.
This has meant for years the very most I have ever had to do is give them a lift to the dentist. I do not go inside as there is no need. Sorry but it is all relevant.

For years my relative has been given a prescription by this dentist for free toothpaste. I have asked them over the years why they get this free and they have just told me because the dentist likes them, because the dentist feels sorry for them, or latterly because they have sensitive teeth. None of this might be true. The context above was to explain that it is not always easy to get an accurate answer from the relative.

So my question is whether there are legitimate reasons for the relative to get free toothpaste? And I am just curious. This dentist is amazing, so I am not going to bring it up with the dentist or be at all critical.

My ds gets a toothpaste prescription from the dentist. It is for a really high flouride toothpaste.

Okay, so it could be legitimate thanks. It just looks like ordinary toothpaste, but my relative insists it is special toothpaste. So looks like it is legitimate.

I've never heard of toothpaste on prescription so assume like the previous poster said it's for some very specific related to your relatives oral needs.... not because they like them

Our dentist always has the sample sizes free on the desk

When dd had braces she was given prescriptions for mouthwash and high flouride toothpaste by our regular dentist. The orthodontist sold us mouthwash and toothpaste.

Am not sure why, just told it's high flouride. In fact my old dentist gave me a prescription for high flouride toothpaste when ds was about 3 months old and I was bfing. I did have a wisdom tooth with a cavity in though we were waiting for a hospital appointment to remove.

I wonder if it's for patients that are more susceptible to issues because of something else? So I was bfing, dd with her braces and your relative with MH issues.

@Oldraver I can see the dentist might have made a joke that they are getting the toothpaste because they like them, and then going on to explain why. So I suspect this is what happened.
Relative rarely cleans their teeth, so it might be related to this as well.

Mine doesn't it on prescription they sometimes just hand us some themselves as they have lots sent to them as promotional.

I’ve got weak teeth even though I look after them well and I’ve been given high fluoride toothpaste on prescription before

Dentists can prescribe Duraphat, a higher fluoride toothpaste for people with various needs that mean that they don't/can't clean their teeth well.

If you're in England, most of the time you still have to pay for prescriptions so its not that big a deal really.

My dentist gives me a prescription for Colgate Duraphat toothpaste. 2800 ppm fluoride which is higher than regular toothpaste. If your relative doesn't pay for their prescriptions then it will indeed be free.

Cat - I do know how to clean my teeth thanks Crappy teeth genetics also play a part

Yes it is duraphat. Relative gets free prescriptions, but only uses the toothpaste occasionally, so uses little of it.
It makes sense that as my relative rarely cleans their teeth because of ongoing severe mental health problems, that the dentist would prescribe this toothpaste then. And good to know that it is part of their amazing care.
Thanks all for explaining. As I said I was just curious, but this now makes sense.

I get a high fluoride toothpaste prescribed by the dentist

dd gets hers on prescription, its for highly sensitive teeth, she is disabled and an adult (also on ESA)

Interesting that there is such a thing as prescription toothpaste, had no idea! DP and I go to the same dentist and last time booked appts with the same dentist one after the other. I went in first, all good, left- he went in directly after me, also all fine with his teeth (his are realistically better than mine if anything ) but the dentist had given him some tubes of toothpaste, it's just normal toothpaste the same as we buy or have at home.

We assumed they were samples or something but always joke about why on earth he got these and not me!

@dontgo Free samples are slightly different. It is probably a bit random who gets them.