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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Do babies need to have their teeth painted with fluoride???

38 replies

ilikeyoursleeves · 13/03/2009 20:18

My sister is just off the phone and asked if my DS's teeth have been painted with fluoride- I've never heard of this and noone has ever mentioned it (ie HV etc). Is she talking rubbish???

She also said she is brushing her DD's gums with toothpaste although she has no teeth yet- I said I didn't think she needed her gums brushed but she said that she was told that you can still get tooth decay even if you don't have any teeth Who's correct here??????????

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Pruners · 13/03/2009 20:21

Message withdrawn

Smithagain · 13/03/2009 20:23

Never heard of any such thing in the UK.

Seona1973 · 13/03/2009 20:25

neither of mine have had it done - maybe it is done if they have weak enamel/are prone to cavities.

trixymalixy · 13/03/2009 20:25

Never heard of this either.

Pruners · 13/03/2009 20:26

Message withdrawn

sarah76 · 13/03/2009 20:26

American here.... had fluoride treatments as a kid every time I went to the dentist (every six months). No cavities till much later in life.

Where does your sister live?

Original poster

ilikeyoursleeves · 13/03/2009 20:27

She lives in Scotland!

OP posts:

nickytwotimes · 13/03/2009 20:28

I live in Scotland and never heard of this.

nickymorris · 13/03/2009 20:32

Hey

The British Dental Association has a good leaflet on this on their website. They reckon that as long as mum is brushing in the recommended way (with a fluoride toothpaste and then spitting out the foam but not rinsing out her mouth with water) and is BFing then a baby will be get enough flouride. Once your baby has teeth you'll be using a (baby approved) fluoride toothpaste so then you're ok.

My dad is a dentist and looked this up for me while I was pregnant!

Hope that is useful

FairLadyRantALot · 13/03/2009 20:34

in germany they are quite hot on fluoride tablets....but in Germany the water does not have anything added...in the UK the watersupply has added fluoride....

it's a bit of a controverse issue, I suppose...because one side says fluoride is a must, the other side points towards research that it does more harm then good...

nancy75 · 13/03/2009 20:35

i think ihad this done when i was a kid (with adult teeth not baby ones. i will be getting dd's done, i live on fizzy drinks, sweets ect but have never needed a filling or anything done to my teeth.

LadyPinkofPinkerton · 13/03/2009 20:35

They have started in our area (SE Scotland) to do this in Nursery. DS1 has had it done once but didn't like it so I'm not forcing him to have it done again.

Totally unconvinced about using toothpaste in a baby with no teeth, that seems quite bizarre

whomovedmychocolate · 13/03/2009 20:35

You might want to send her here then

QueenFee · 13/03/2009 20:37

Where I live in Wales we don't have flouride in the water and I was advised to use Adult toothpaste for my kids on this basis.

trixymalixy · 13/03/2009 20:38

I also live in Scotland and have never heard of this.

whomovedmychocolate · 13/03/2009 20:39

Children's teeth when given excess flouride

whomovedmychocolate · 13/03/2009 20:41

I live in a non-flouridated area and we do use flouride toothpaste on the monkeys but only a teeny tiny bit and they are encouraged to spit it all out again when done.

I stressed to DD that toothpaste was a medicine (which it is actually if you look at the chemical effects) and so you should only take a little bit of it and no more, lest it make you sick.

Original poster

ilikeyoursleeves · 13/03/2009 20:43

I live in Scotland too!

This has got me thinking, do I need to get DS to spit out his toothpaste after brushing then? Just now I use a smear of baby toothpaste twice a day and he is happy to get teeth brushed but just swallows the toothpaste or sucks it all off the brush cos I let him 'finish' his toothbrushing off so he enjoys getting them brushed. Is this the wrong way to be doing it?

OP posts:

FairLadyRantALot · 13/03/2009 21:20

honestly do your own research on fluoride and decide for yourself

paolosgirl · 13/03/2009 21:27

We're in Scotland too - never heard of teeth being painted with fluoride. Is it the same as fissure sealants?

CoteDAzur · 13/03/2009 21:33

Babies can't get tooth decay when they don't yet have visible teeth.

Two things essential to tooth decay that you can't have unless teeth are out in the open:
(1) bacteria
(2) sugar (lactose, fructose, etc)

CoteDAzur · 13/03/2009 21:34

Here in France, babies are given daily fluoride supplements.

FairLadyRantALot · 13/03/2009 21:49

tbh, the biggest difference might be the awareness of not sharing a spoon...or mum/dad sucking dummy clean...as that spread bacteria...bith dh and I have baddish teeth...but our Kids have much much better teeth despite not always brushing greatly....

trixymalixy · 14/03/2009 16:54

I had fissure sealant as a child and that was more like a thick protective filling.

I also had fluoride gel which was placed in teeth shaped moulds placed on the teeth and left for 10-15 mins. Always made me throw up. Can't imagine they would do that to babies though?

TheCrackFox · 14/03/2009 17:01

DS2 (3yrs) has just had his teeth painted with flouride in Scotland. It must be a new thing as DS1 (7yrs) didn't have it done.

Never heard about brushing babies gums before.

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