Are Your Kids Using Too Much Toothpaste?

Health Wellness

Speaking from experience, one of the toughest things many parents face when raising their kids is getting them to brush their teeth.

I grew up with 2 older brothers a little sister and I know that our parents were constantly after us to brush our teeth before going to bed. My brothers and I shared a very small bedroom that barely had room for the bunk beds (double on bottom and single on top). We each had 2 small drawers and an 18” x 18” closet for our clothes and toys.

When it came time for bed, the three of us boys would crowd into a very small bathroom and jostle for position in front of the sink, trying to brush our teeth. One of the few times that the three of actually worked together was to see how we could fool our parents into thinking we brushed our teeth when we hadn’t.

At first, it was just getting our toothbrushes wet, but they were smarter than us and sniffed the toothbrushes for the odor of toothpaste. So, we started to put just a tad of toothpaste on the toothbrushes, but again, they were smarter than us boys and they smelled our breaths. We thought we were really clever and would put a tad of toothpaste on the brushes and then touch them to our teeth.

It’s amazing how smart parents are as it didn’t take long before either our dad or mom would stand behind us to make sure we brushed.

That’s when we would only put a small dab of toothpaste on the toothbrush, but they insisted that we covered the entire brush with toothpaste.

When I became a parent, I was aware of all of the ploys we used as kids to avoid brushing our teeth, so, when our youngest child began trying the same tricks, I was ahead of her. Like my parents, I insisted that they filled their toothbrush with toothpaste when brushing.

Now, we are being told that using that much toothpaste for younger kids can harm their teeth, instead of helping them. Check out this report:

“Based on a review of the science led by J. Tim Wright, a pediatric dentist at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, the ADA now recommends that children’s teeth should be brushed with a smear of fluoride toothpaste as soon as they appear. The new recommendations also change the advice for older kids: Children should keep using a smear — not the pea-sized amount previously recommended — until their third birthday. Children between ages 3 and 6 should use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste.”

“Fluoride works to prevent cavities by rebuilding teeth. Highly reactive fluoride sticks to molecules in the tooth that become exposed when bacteria-produced acid attacks the teeth. Fluoride molecules latch on to the tooth and beckon other minerals such as calcium and phosphate in a process called remineralization.”

I can attest to how fluoride can stain teeth. When our daughters were young, they were given a fluoride rinse to use on a regular basis at school. The program was called swish and spit. After loosing her two front teeth as all kids do, the fluoride rinse stained her permanent teeth as they grew in.

Fluoride is good, but like many good things, it must be used in moderation.

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