children's toothpaste or ordinary ?

[MargaretMountford]

did anyone read a piece in one of the weekend papers - may have been Telegraph magazine - I was at my parents and read it but can't remember now what it said - about children's teeth ( and how British children have much better teeth than you'd imagine). It said that it was better to let them brush with adult's toothpaste than the children's versions - but I can't remember why this was ! any ideas ?

My two were at the dentists last week and said that we should use aldut toothpaste at least 1500parts flurride.

Problem is they dont do a strawberry adults one

I was told this by the dentist as well. Aquafresh is quite mild.

I've tried various children's toothpastes and neither of my chimdren like them, so I give them a tiny bit of adult toothpaste.

Don;t bother with the children's rip off ones.

i wish i'd used full strength adult toothpaste on my son. i think some children do need that extra strength. is fluoride not put into water at all now?

Ds (age 8) is happily using adult toothpaste, and has been for at least a year.
But dd (age 5) finds adult toothpaste (and some of the minty children's ones!) too 'spicy' (her words)

Will try her again soon, because I read somewhere that you need to have 1500ppm fluoride toothpaste, and most children's toothpastes are nowhere near this...

Incidentally, my dsis and I grew up in Holland and my mother gave us a fluoride tablet every evening.
That is not done over here, no?

thanks all...will get ds on to adult toothpaste - TheMadHouse -Tom's of Maine toothpaste is good stuff, the flavours might be less pervasive than ordinary. My dad used to use Euthymol which is bright pink and takes the skin off your gums - we loved it as kids !

I used to use adult toothpaste on my son, as they don't add flouride to the water, here (I think they suggest children's toothpastes where flouride is added). However, my dentist panicked me a bit about that by saying that maybe a children's toothpaste was safer, as excessive flouride pre- the emergence of adult teeth can result in brown staining on the adult teeth when they do come through, and my son just didn't get spitting until he was nearly 4 years old, so was basically swallowing all the flouride in the toothpaste (which I'd assumed was OK, as I'd have thought most very small children swallow their toothpaste and I only used a tiny amount). So now I use children's toothpaste (mint flavoured, but lower flouride than adult ones and a milder taste). My children don't have any problems with dental decay, so I'm sticking with it until they can both spit their toothpaste out, properly.

Oh hi MAS, did not realise this was your thread

hi hippi

Adult toothpaste but only a teeny tiny amount, squashed into the bristles to minimise swallowing.

Just back from a dental check up with my ds, 2.5 years. I asked about toothpaste and using adult strength fluoride and the dentist said it was a big no-no, because of the risk of dental flurosis (brown spots on the teeth, which are hard to get rid of). So I am sticking with the lower fluoride toothpaste from now on. Fingers crossed we won't have any problems with his teeth.

Also just been to dentist last week and she said use an adult toothpaste. Fluorosis a problem only if they eat lots of it.

No definitive answer there then!

We currently use a child's one in a non fluorodated area. It is 500ppm. Dentist said they are basically a rip off and adult ones used only a smear make childrens' teeth stronger.

We may switch. but in the end I very much doubt the kind of paste will be what makes a difference.

genetics, diet, reg brushing.

I'm going to try a small blob of adult stuff for ds I think, weighing everything up - he spits it out ok.

my lot brush their teeth loads[ bit of an obsession and the free reign to play with water]so I use childrens toothpaste.

ds when a few years younger had to be stopped from brushing his teeth as he went on at it for ages - I was worried he'd brush the enamel away !