Are there any dentists or people in the know about toothpaste out there?

[NogginOfRum]

Ds (3.4) doesn't like the taste of mint toothpaste so he uses a flavoured kind aimed at children.

I've just noticed it contains 500ppmF. Now i don't quite know what this is, but i'm sure i remember hearing that a good toothpaste should contain a minimum of 1000ppmF.

Am i talking nonsense or is this true? Or does it only apply to adults?

Bumping for you.

Hi,

ppmF is parts per million of fluoride (i think).

Adult strength toothpaste would have more fluoride than a childs toothpaste so 500ppm for a 3 year old sounds right.

Well I am no expert but I know we had a talk by an oral health person at our nursery and she urged parents not to bother with children's toothpaste at all (not v. helpful if he doesn't like mint!)

I have an excellent pediatric dentist who, among other things, recommends a particular toothpaste to a particular child on the basis (among other criteria) of the child's home and school addresses and the amount of fluoride the child will be receiving in drinking water (the dentist keeps herself fully informed about the fluoride content per area).

She recommended Elmex children's toothpaste with 500 ppm F for my DD (4) because there is already fluoride in the water where we live.

Hi again,

just checked and Aquafresh milk teeth toothpaste has 1000ppm (thought that was about 500ppm). Sorry, no idea now whether 500ppm is too low for a 3 year old. Can you take him for a visit to the dentist.

I was using a pea-sized amount of normal toothpaste for my DCs, as advised by one dentist (they were 4 and 6 at the time), but was later advised to use the children's one for my youngest because he won't spit.

I do think you need to take into account whether or not you live in an area with fluorodated water too.

Thanks all for your replies. Wasn't sure if anyone would bother replying as it's such a dull subject

TBH i hate the toothpaste he uses, it has an awful flavour and colour but i suppose as long as it's doing some good then it's fine for a bit longer.

I think i will ask the dentist about it next time we're there.

Out of interest does anyone know of a good toothpaste, one which isn't specifically aimed at children, which isn't mint flavour and might appeal to a 3yr old?

we live in a fluoridated area so we just use 500ppm toothpaste on our 4 and 2 year olds.

In non-fluoridated areas, I've heard that you should use 1000ppm paste once the molars have broken through and encourage child NOT to rinse afterwards. This allows the fluoride to stick to the teeth for a while and do its stuff.

Although drinking fluoride does have some protective effect against cavities, it's the topical application of fluoride from toothpaste that has the most benefit. However, the therapeutic window is narrow - thus if you combine 1000ppm toothpaste and fluoridated water, it is very easy in small children to cause fluorodosis of developing secondary teeth. It can look terrible, and the government will not pay for cosmetic treatments to sort it out.

We use either the Oral B brand or Sainsburys fruity one (but we specifically look for 500ppm)

How do you find out if your area is fluoridated? Anyone know?

Was just wondering the same thing

I hadn't thought to check this! ... so off to check toothpaste

Ask your water company about fluoride in your area.

Have you checked the smallprint on the toothpaste tube? I'm sure I read about it on there (haven't got it to hand though).