Babies should be using adult toothpaste??????

[Neney1]

Had the dental advisory people come to work yesterday to talk about dental health! We were told that the latest info states that babies from their first tooth should be using adult strength toothpaste as they need the extra fluoride that it provides! Brands like the Milk Teeth that we all get in the bounty packs are no good because there isn't enough fluoride in them.

Just wondered if anyone else gives their baby adult toothpaste, and if so which do you use? We use colgate whitening toothpaste which i don't think would be a good idea for a 9mo!!!

Teh area I live in has floride added to the water, so I expect it depends on where you live.

My SIL was told by her dentist to brush her babies teeth with adult toothpaste.

I think most adult toothpastes would be far too strong-tasting for babies.

And lots of people use fluoride-free toothpaste anyway.

Does it depend on the hardness of the water?

we currently use a flouride-free, additive free toothpaste, but when dd1 was younger we used normal colgate with her, and she loved the taste.

in fact, she wouldn't havemilk teeth anywhere near her - she much preferred the stronger taste!

Ah, didn't think about the different water types around the nation!! We're in the midlands. The dental woman did say that we had fluoride in the water, but where it was previously thought that it was plenty for babies up to 2 (no toothpaste needed at all) this has now changed to it not being enough. its only changed in the last few months mind.

I had understood that adult toothpaste was unsuitable for childrens teeth as the amount of fluoride in it can lead to permanent marking of the adult teeth if it is swallowed (even before the adult teeth come through). I saw a picture of this in an article and there were really unsightly marks on the childs teeth. If this isn't true I would love to know, as I have a running battle with my children not to swallow but to spit it out.

Doesn't it depend on whether your water is flourinated? In London we're advised to use adult toothpaste (still use kids stuff though)

In Scotland full strength adult toothpaste is recommended and is given out free at their 8mo check with a free toothbrush. This continues until primary school (DN in primary 4 still gets it). But then again, Scotland has a terrible dental health record

I used 1000ppm flouride toothpaste for DS as my dentist here in Leeds said full strength was too much, and now use it for DD. Macleans do a "Little Teeth" one labelled for ages 4-6 which is 1000ppm.

I live in a very hard water area, would the water have more fluoride in that case, or less?