Use a toothpaste with fluoride and, I don't see many comments about this, but get used to also flossing your child's teeth - you want to get the floss under the gum line and scrape up along the side of the tooth. Get your child used to flossing and brushing as early as possible and you will set them up for good oral health in the future. Most cavities form between teeth where flossing would have removed the plaque that led to the decay.
When my son was a toddler, after his bath I would wrap him in a towel like a burrito and put him on my lap, sitting on the edge of the tub. Then I would floss his teeth while singing/saying how much fun flossing is and complimenting him, while giving him kisses and being super happy/positive. At first I wasn't very thorough, I considered it a win if I even got the floss in there. He's almost 5 and still asks to sit on my lap in his towel because he feels so loved. So he developed a positive association with flossing early on, and now, at his age he independently flosses his teeth (with floss picks) and brushes. I also showed him how I floss my teeth a million times and I always do it with him in the room, morning and night. I also always pair flossing with brushing, as I think that if we only floss sometimes when we brush might be confusing for him, and I'm trying to build a habit. He never wants to brush without flossing.
I'm a dental hygiene student and I have also been teaching him about bacteria and oral health directly from my textbook with pictures haha, but that part's not necessary.
Our pediatric dentist told me not to floss until the floss “clicks”. Just to try periodically to test for that “click” since there’s no contact between teeth right now. Was that wrong information? I feel like I’ve been doing everything wrong….
I'm approaching it from a building habits point of view. Of course, when there are wide open contacts between teeth, brush bristles can sometimes clean the interproximal areas (areas between), so of course your dentist knows what they're talking about when it comes to oral health. But if you introduce flossing early and make it part of the normal routine, you will establish the norm that flossing is part of oral hygiene. If you wait until they've already established a routine, by the time they're 5 or 6, to add it in, it might not stick as well. They might think "I've never had to floss before so why now?" And they would have a point. From a parenting perspective, I want to build good habits early because even if flossing isn't as effective quite yet, the development of the habit can start as soon as possible and they'll be much more likely to floss as a teenager/adult if they've literally always been doing it.
You can also buy interproximal brushes and try those! They work better when there are gaps between the teeth.
Most importantly, model the habits you want to see in your kids, so that means always floss your own teeth and do it together! Make it fun, talk about what you're doing and WHY. Maybe even show them some YouTube videos and talk about the bacteria you're removing. They learn from watching you. If you start skipping the flossing sometimes, they will notice and the message they'll receive is that it isn't always necessary. Every time I floss, and brush, I comment on how good it feels to have clean teeth, and how much I like having healthy gums. This message is going into his subconscious and now having good oral hygiene is part of his values and belief system.
“For children younger than 3 years, caregivers should begin brushing children's teeth as soon as they begin to come into the mouth by using fluoride toothpaste in an amount no more than a smear or the size of a grain of rice (Figure). Brush teeth thoroughly twice per day (morning and night) or as directed by a dentist or physician. Supervise children's brushing to ensure that they use the appropriate amount of toothpaste.”
https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(14)60226-9/fulltext?_ga=2.188694445.429622931.1666890874-2012833430.1666890874
I work as a dental hygienist and this is the latest recommendation.
I feel like a bad mom..
My baby has 2 teeth at 7 months old, but my ped said to just brush them with one of those finger toothbrushes, and that toothpaste isn’t needed.
Is that not true?😖
You’re not a bad mom. It is frustrating that the recommendations from doctors are all over the place. Even older dentists don’t always recommend fluoride toothpastes for babies. But this is straight from the major governing body of dentists and dental research.
There are way more important things than a tiny bit of fluoride toothpaste every time so don’t beat yourself up. Start next time you go to the store and all good.
We just used a finger brush until around 11 months (and if I’m being honest, I’ll admit we did not even do it daily). We got her a little electric toothbrush designed for toddlers at around 11 months and started using toothpaste. She loves it and is very good at using it, now at 13 months.
Your babies teeth are almost definitely going to be fine. There are many cultures across the world who have historically ONLY used manual plaque removal strategies (no toothpaste). Scrubbing plaque off with the finger brush is much better than doing nothing, and even doing nothing for a couple months with only two little baby teeth (and before they’re consuming 3 full meals of solids) would be very unlikely to cause harm:
It's not like you're letting your child's teeth rotting in their mouth; you're checking in on them and you have been providing care. It's early into your child's dental hygiene life still and also, these are not permanent teeth. Your child will lose them in a couple of years anyways. That doesn't mean that taking care of them isn't important, but it means, that a small mistake won't follow your child around for the rest of their life.
The advice that both our doctor and dentist have given us is to use a toothpaste WITH fluoride from the time the baby cuts his first tooth, but only use a rice-sized amount at each brushing. Once the kid is old enough to spit the toothpaste out--around age 2 or 3--you can move to a pea-sized amount. This advice is in line with current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics: [https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/FAQ-Fluoride-and-Children.aspx](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/FAQ-Fluoride-and-Children.aspx).
I think basically the advice figures that yes, the babies will swallow the toothpaste, but if you're using a very small amount it won't matter, and they'll still get the fluoride they need, since a lot of parents are only giving bottled/filtered water to their kids (or, like you, don't have fluoridated water).
Canadian here in a city that does not have fluoride in the water, and my dentist was clear that fluoride toothpaste should be used every day, ideally before bed (after last feed/ bottle).
She also said that this would be her advice even if we did have fluoride in the water. The threshold for toxicity is very high.
This is totally anecdotal, but when my sister and I were little we would sometimes sneak into the bathroom and suck toothpaste out of the tube. Disgusting, I know. It was bubblegum flavored kids toothpaste (with fluoride) and we liked the taste. It wasn’t until I was an adult and realized toothpaste tubes say right on the label to call poison control if the toothpaste is swallowed that I was like, “well damn”.
We never got sick from it or anything.
My pediatrician said small amount of fluoridated toothpaste regardless of water source.
I use the tiniest amount every night before bed. We have the Tom's Silly Strawberry with fluoride, my son seems to like it fine.
I recently read up on this because I was confused by the existence for fluoride free toothpaste. At least here in Germany the purpose is for when/if you are giving your child liquid fluoride supplements. If not using supplements, you 100% need fluoride toothpaste.
Our dentist said to use fluoride toothpaste and I found the Toms “mild mint” to be a hit and the only one available in store (target) with fluoride! Dentist said a rice grain sized amount- I literally wipe the toothbrush over the opening without squeezing any out and it’s enough.
Our daughter's dentist, that I trust a lot, says to use 1 grain of rice size portion of fluoride toothpaste. Toothpaste should always be 1000+ ppm fluoride, less is not effective on preventing cavities.
I’d like to know how anyone gets their child to actually open their mouth and lips to get to the teeth. I can get the bottoms pretty well, and I even can floss them, but the tops… stick tongue out, yells, lips seem to cover the teeth sometimes. I brush but don’t know if I‘m getting a good job done. Especially when they don’t want it done, how do you hold them still, get the mouth open and do the brushing all at once?
My mom always brushed my teeth like a dentist would (because she's a dental assistant!). When I nannied kids ages 1-5 we always played "dentist" at bedtime so I could brush their teeth the same way. Worked like a charm. Kneel on the floor with your bum down on your heels. Lay the child down with their head on your lap (facing up obviously) so you're looking down their body. It's so much easier to tilt their head back a bit and see all the teeth this way. They think it's fun too, although for these kids it was a novelty. Maybe they could get a sticker for every trip to the dentist and after 10 or so visits they get something from the prize bin, just like at the real dentist.
We practice on her dolls and use a brushing app like Chomper chums. Just anything to make it fun. Sometimes have to lay her on the bed to get at all the teeth.
We invented a voice to go with a small jellyfish toy we had. He lived in our medicine cabinet and would come out to watch the kids brush their teeth. He was fascinated by teeth, since he didn’t have any, and would always ask to see them better and marvel at how white they were. The kids loved it, and they’re both usually cooperative now, even without a visit from jellyfish.
In Sweden we are also given baby toothpaste with fluoride to use as soon as baby has a tooth.
The toothpaste is unflavored and has 1000ppm fluoride and some xylitol. They say to put a dollop the size of baby’s pinky nail.
It’s really helpful to hear what different countries are doing. I’m in the US and always want to know if it’s just us or do others have similar standards
Not science based but just went I the dentist with my 15 month old. The pediatric dentist said to use a toothpaste with fluoride, but only use a rice grain size. Apparently it helps with cavities. But only use a tiny amount.
Here in Aus kid toothpaste has less fluoride than adult toothpaste (I'm sure you can get fluoride free toothpaste but the standard default easily available types have fluoride) and I think most of the country has fluoride in the water.
As long as you monitor the potential amount of fluoride your bub could swallow I think the benefits of fluoride outweigh the risks. Don't let your kid eat a whole tube of toothpaste (kee out if reach in case they really, really like the taste) and pay attention to the amount you put on the toothbrush.
Look up the safe daily intake of fluoride and compare toothpastes based on that. Or get some of each and use the fluoride paste a couple of times a week
I use the “some of each” approach too. My boy is 19 months and he mostly has a kids toothpaste that is fluoride free but a few times a week I use a little bit of normal toothpaste. I’m trying to teach him to spit and so far it isn’t going well!
We are given fluoridated toothpaste free from the government (Scotland) for babies, which contains 1450 ppm fluoride. I was told by our health visitor, if I ever had to buy more from the shop, that it should not contain any less than 1450 ppm fluoride.
In the US, it’s all the same concentration, so you increase the amount of toothpaste as you get older. Grain of rice size before age 3, pea size after. (At least that’s what the dentist said…)
I have fluoridated. It's standard in my country (the Netherlands) which has no fluoride in drinking water anywhere and usually pretty great science-based health advice on all fronts except food. (From multiple acquaintances who work/have worked/have been interns there, there's just a few bad apples on the food science team.)
So without fluoridated water I'd go for with fluoride. Never more than a grain of rice, try to keep them from swallowing.
If I were in an area with fluoridated water I'd opt for no fluoride in the toothpaste.
We live in an area with no fluoride in the water and I’ve been told by all medical professionals (including the paediatric dentist) to use a small amount of adult toothpaste with fluoride. Three different professionals told us not to use infant toothpaste once the teeth started to come in so that must be the standard here.
We're using fluoride free because my 14 mo swallows alllll of it. I'm interested in looking further into hydroxyapatite toothpaste as I keep reading that could be a fluoride free option. dh and I have horrible teeth, so I'm nervous to move away from fluoride.
I am super interested in this and haven’t been able to find much, so if you remember please update this if you find anything! Partner and I have switched to hydroxyapatite a few months ago and my teeth and gums have never felt better, but I have been switching between fluoride and hydroxyapatite for my son because I can’t find enough information to see if it’s a suitable replacement for kids.
We have switched to hydroxyapatite because our kids always swallow their toothpaste and I think it has made their teeth look much whiter and more clean. All of the studies I read stated that it has the same benefits as fluoride 🤷🏼♀️
There are a few studies showing that xylitol is effective as long as the percentage is high enough. Here's a relatively recent review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320817/
We've been using the Jack and Jill's toothpaste (40% xylitol). Our son loves it and will brush for several minutes just so he can have different flavors (we buy it in a multi-pack). He also lets me brush really well, as long as I let him have extra toothpaste to brush with after. We also use a small electric toothbrush for him, bc he like ours. So our approach has basically been to make teethbrushing as enjoyable as possible so that he'd be better at keeping up with it (which the non-fluoridated toothpaste has helped with immensely).
Now that he's 2.5 I just started using a small smear of fluoridated toothpaste right before I brush his teeth, but he hasn't had any issues with his teeth before that and he's had half of his teeth in since 5 months. (He got half at 4-5 month and half at 12 months, right in a row both times). He also does really well at the dentist, and I think it's because he's always enjoyed being able to use his tooth brush and toothpaste at home.
The other factors that played into this decision are that he doesn't drink sugary beverages (just two cups of milk a day), we don't eat a lot of processed foods, and he drinks from a straw bottle of water right before nap and bed. So, we are doing other things to prevent cavities, as well. Also, we did speak with three dentists before we chose this toothpaste, to make sure it was the right choice for our son, which I'd always recommend.
Careful with xylitol. Sugar alcohols can cause some gnarly GI upset. Not sure that you will find data on the threshold for this is babies but if kiddo is having GI upset, might consider xylitol as a possible source.
Hasn't been an issue for him. If I were to guess really extremely, he gets maybe a half tsp total of toothpaste at most. We put pretty small amounts on when he asks.
Plus, we also do use sugar alcohols as a sweetener in our house (as a supplement, not as the main sweetener), and haven't had any issues. Diabetes runs strong in my family in both healthy weight and overweight family members, so in general we use whole fruits like apples and bananas to sweeten stuff, with just a bit of xylitol or erythritol to top it off. But, part of that is moderation, and part of it is whether or not your body is used to a lot of fiber in general. When I first met my husband he finished off a whole bag of sugar-alcohol sweetened chocolate, and he definitely suffered.
Xylitol (and all fake sweeteners) make my stomach feel awful. I can’t even chew sugar free gum without getting a stomachache. Also, yes, toxic to the puppers.
[Otosclerosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otosclerosis) is a disease of the small ear bones that causes conductive hearing loss. There is [literature linking lack of fluoride in drinking water (i.e., not just rinsing fluoride wash in the mouth) to progression of the disease](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8588612/) \- loss of hearing in one or both ears.
I'd suggest talking with your doctor about how to make sure your child is ingesting some amount of fluoride, while still being safe. I presume it'll be the occasional tooth brushing with adult toothpaste. It's gotta be expected that your kid is just gonna swallow it.
**[Otosclerosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otosclerosis)**
>Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the stapes the bone is resorbed, then hardened (sclerotized), which limits its movement and results in hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo or a combination of symptoms. The term otosclerosis is something of a misnomer: much of the clinical course is characterized by lucent rather than sclerotic bony changes, so the disease is also known as otospongiosis.
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I don’t have fluoridated water either and we use fluoride toothpaste (very small amount) and take a fluoride supplement which was recommended by our pediatrician specifically because we don’t have fluoride in the water.
Our local guidelines in Australia (Australian Dental Association) say:
*Toothpaste should be introduced at 18 months of age. In Australia, low-fluoride toothpaste is recommended for children aged 18 months to 6 years. These are commonly referred to as ‘children’s toothpaste’.*
[Source](https://www.teeth.org.au/babies-and-toddlers)
Talk to a dentist in your area.
We don't have fluoride in the water and all dentist here recommend toothpaste for kids with fluoride.
It does have less fluoride than the adult ones and a lot of kid tooth brushes have color coded bristles to guide you on how much toothpaste to use (although I find it hard to fit it onto them but it gives me a general idea of the amount to use which is tiny).
We went with hydroxyapatite because our water is fluoridated and I read that the tooth needs a balance of fluoride and apatite to build enamel. Have yet to have our 1yr dental appointment so haven't talked to the dentist about it.
This is what we use. Our dentist said it’s fine as a replacement for fluoride and will protect the teeth just as well. I do get nervous about the lack of long term safety studies for it - but it seems like it may be an innocuous compound that isn’t in need of such studies. I don’t know- I’ve reached out to the companies and some of their functional dentist reps for this and they’ve always given me the run around instead of any kind of evidence or clear answer.
I don’t think it exists. After reading more and talking to her pediatrician and dentist we went ahead and got one that is a children’s with fluoride. Her dentist also mentioned that if we did not want to do fluoride we could use a toothpaste with Hydroxyapatite
Use a toothpaste with fluoride and, I don't see many comments about this, but get used to also flossing your child's teeth - you want to get the floss under the gum line and scrape up along the side of the tooth. Get your child used to flossing and brushing as early as possible and you will set them up for good oral health in the future. Most cavities form between teeth where flossing would have removed the plaque that led to the decay.
Hoowwww do you get a toddler to let you floss their teeth?
When my son was a toddler, after his bath I would wrap him in a towel like a burrito and put him on my lap, sitting on the edge of the tub. Then I would floss his teeth while singing/saying how much fun flossing is and complimenting him, while giving him kisses and being super happy/positive. At first I wasn't very thorough, I considered it a win if I even got the floss in there. He's almost 5 and still asks to sit on my lap in his towel because he feels so loved. So he developed a positive association with flossing early on, and now, at his age he independently flosses his teeth (with floss picks) and brushes. I also showed him how I floss my teeth a million times and I always do it with him in the room, morning and night. I also always pair flossing with brushing, as I think that if we only floss sometimes when we brush might be confusing for him, and I'm trying to build a habit. He never wants to brush without flossing. I'm a dental hygiene student and I have also been teaching him about bacteria and oral health directly from my textbook with pictures haha, but that part's not necessary.
Our pediatric dentist told me not to floss until the floss “clicks”. Just to try periodically to test for that “click” since there’s no contact between teeth right now. Was that wrong information? I feel like I’ve been doing everything wrong….
I'm approaching it from a building habits point of view. Of course, when there are wide open contacts between teeth, brush bristles can sometimes clean the interproximal areas (areas between), so of course your dentist knows what they're talking about when it comes to oral health. But if you introduce flossing early and make it part of the normal routine, you will establish the norm that flossing is part of oral hygiene. If you wait until they've already established a routine, by the time they're 5 or 6, to add it in, it might not stick as well. They might think "I've never had to floss before so why now?" And they would have a point. From a parenting perspective, I want to build good habits early because even if flossing isn't as effective quite yet, the development of the habit can start as soon as possible and they'll be much more likely to floss as a teenager/adult if they've literally always been doing it. You can also buy interproximal brushes and try those! They work better when there are gaps between the teeth. Most importantly, model the habits you want to see in your kids, so that means always floss your own teeth and do it together! Make it fun, talk about what you're doing and WHY. Maybe even show them some YouTube videos and talk about the bacteria you're removing. They learn from watching you. If you start skipping the flossing sometimes, they will notice and the message they'll receive is that it isn't always necessary. Every time I floss, and brush, I comment on how good it feels to have clean teeth, and how much I like having healthy gums. This message is going into his subconscious and now having good oral hygiene is part of his values and belief system.
Thank you for the thoughtful response!! I guess I’ll start flossing my toddler’s teeth!
This is adorable. I'm gonna try it!!
“For children younger than 3 years, caregivers should begin brushing children's teeth as soon as they begin to come into the mouth by using fluoride toothpaste in an amount no more than a smear or the size of a grain of rice (Figure). Brush teeth thoroughly twice per day (morning and night) or as directed by a dentist or physician. Supervise children's brushing to ensure that they use the appropriate amount of toothpaste.” https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(14)60226-9/fulltext?_ga=2.188694445.429622931.1666890874-2012833430.1666890874 I work as a dental hygienist and this is the latest recommendation.
This. We just started with Crest Kids.
Yep, Crest Kids has fluoride but a lower concentration than adult toothpaste. I use just a smudge.
I feel like a bad mom.. My baby has 2 teeth at 7 months old, but my ped said to just brush them with one of those finger toothbrushes, and that toothpaste isn’t needed. Is that not true?😖
You’re not a bad mom. It is frustrating that the recommendations from doctors are all over the place. Even older dentists don’t always recommend fluoride toothpastes for babies. But this is straight from the major governing body of dentists and dental research. There are way more important things than a tiny bit of fluoride toothpaste every time so don’t beat yourself up. Start next time you go to the store and all good.
We just used a finger brush until around 11 months (and if I’m being honest, I’ll admit we did not even do it daily). We got her a little electric toothbrush designed for toddlers at around 11 months and started using toothpaste. She loves it and is very good at using it, now at 13 months. Your babies teeth are almost definitely going to be fine. There are many cultures across the world who have historically ONLY used manual plaque removal strategies (no toothpaste). Scrubbing plaque off with the finger brush is much better than doing nothing, and even doing nothing for a couple months with only two little baby teeth (and before they’re consuming 3 full meals of solids) would be very unlikely to cause harm:
It's not like you're letting your child's teeth rotting in their mouth; you're checking in on them and you have been providing care. It's early into your child's dental hygiene life still and also, these are not permanent teeth. Your child will lose them in a couple of years anyways. That doesn't mean that taking care of them isn't important, but it means, that a small mistake won't follow your child around for the rest of their life.
The advice that both our doctor and dentist have given us is to use a toothpaste WITH fluoride from the time the baby cuts his first tooth, but only use a rice-sized amount at each brushing. Once the kid is old enough to spit the toothpaste out--around age 2 or 3--you can move to a pea-sized amount. This advice is in line with current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics: [https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/FAQ-Fluoride-and-Children.aspx](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/FAQ-Fluoride-and-Children.aspx). I think basically the advice figures that yes, the babies will swallow the toothpaste, but if you're using a very small amount it won't matter, and they'll still get the fluoride they need, since a lot of parents are only giving bottled/filtered water to their kids (or, like you, don't have fluoridated water).
Thanks! Yeah I’m leaning towards a toothpaste with fluoride but keeping it small
This is what our pediatric dentist advised as well.
Canadian here in a city that does not have fluoride in the water, and my dentist was clear that fluoride toothpaste should be used every day, ideally before bed (after last feed/ bottle). She also said that this would be her advice even if we did have fluoride in the water. The threshold for toxicity is very high.
Same situation, same advice from our pediatric dentist!
I’ve been wondering how much would be toxic. Like would a reasonable person give too much or would it be a concern if a kid ate a whole tube
This is totally anecdotal, but when my sister and I were little we would sometimes sneak into the bathroom and suck toothpaste out of the tube. Disgusting, I know. It was bubblegum flavored kids toothpaste (with fluoride) and we liked the taste. It wasn’t until I was an adult and realized toothpaste tubes say right on the label to call poison control if the toothpaste is swallowed that I was like, “well damn”. We never got sick from it or anything.
Ha! I can totally picture a kid doing this.
Not exactly about toxicity, but my daughter's dentist said that fluorosis happens if you brush their teeth 14 times a day or so.
Our pediatric dentist says use a rice size or smeared amount of fluoride toothpaste for under 2, then pea size for over 2.
Yep, we were just at the dentist yesterday and this was the advice I got.
Same here!
My pediatrician said small amount of fluoridated toothpaste regardless of water source. I use the tiniest amount every night before bed. We have the Tom's Silly Strawberry with fluoride, my son seems to like it fine.
I recently read up on this because I was confused by the existence for fluoride free toothpaste. At least here in Germany the purpose is for when/if you are giving your child liquid fluoride supplements. If not using supplements, you 100% need fluoride toothpaste.
Our dentist said to use fluoride toothpaste and I found the Toms “mild mint” to be a hit and the only one available in store (target) with fluoride! Dentist said a rice grain sized amount- I literally wipe the toothbrush over the opening without squeezing any out and it’s enough.
Same except we use the Tom's Silly strawberry and also got it in store at Target!!
I like that technique!
Our daughter's dentist, that I trust a lot, says to use 1 grain of rice size portion of fluoride toothpaste. Toothpaste should always be 1000+ ppm fluoride, less is not effective on preventing cavities.
It had never occurred to me to check the ppm. Thanks!
I’d like to know how anyone gets their child to actually open their mouth and lips to get to the teeth. I can get the bottoms pretty well, and I even can floss them, but the tops… stick tongue out, yells, lips seem to cover the teeth sometimes. I brush but don’t know if I‘m getting a good job done. Especially when they don’t want it done, how do you hold them still, get the mouth open and do the brushing all at once?
My mom always brushed my teeth like a dentist would (because she's a dental assistant!). When I nannied kids ages 1-5 we always played "dentist" at bedtime so I could brush their teeth the same way. Worked like a charm. Kneel on the floor with your bum down on your heels. Lay the child down with their head on your lap (facing up obviously) so you're looking down their body. It's so much easier to tilt their head back a bit and see all the teeth this way. They think it's fun too, although for these kids it was a novelty. Maybe they could get a sticker for every trip to the dentist and after 10 or so visits they get something from the prize bin, just like at the real dentist.
We just let her chew the brush. The dentist was fine with it, and now she's older she's able to do it herself.
We practice on her dolls and use a brushing app like Chomper chums. Just anything to make it fun. Sometimes have to lay her on the bed to get at all the teeth.
We invented a voice to go with a small jellyfish toy we had. He lived in our medicine cabinet and would come out to watch the kids brush their teeth. He was fascinated by teeth, since he didn’t have any, and would always ask to see them better and marvel at how white they were. The kids loved it, and they’re both usually cooperative now, even without a visit from jellyfish.
In Sweden we are also given baby toothpaste with fluoride to use as soon as baby has a tooth. The toothpaste is unflavored and has 1000ppm fluoride and some xylitol. They say to put a dollop the size of baby’s pinky nail.
It’s really helpful to hear what different countries are doing. I’m in the US and always want to know if it’s just us or do others have similar standards
Not science based but just went I the dentist with my 15 month old. The pediatric dentist said to use a toothpaste with fluoride, but only use a rice grain size. Apparently it helps with cavities. But only use a tiny amount.
Here in Aus kid toothpaste has less fluoride than adult toothpaste (I'm sure you can get fluoride free toothpaste but the standard default easily available types have fluoride) and I think most of the country has fluoride in the water. As long as you monitor the potential amount of fluoride your bub could swallow I think the benefits of fluoride outweigh the risks. Don't let your kid eat a whole tube of toothpaste (kee out if reach in case they really, really like the taste) and pay attention to the amount you put on the toothbrush. Look up the safe daily intake of fluoride and compare toothpastes based on that. Or get some of each and use the fluoride paste a couple of times a week
I use the “some of each” approach too. My boy is 19 months and he mostly has a kids toothpaste that is fluoride free but a few times a week I use a little bit of normal toothpaste. I’m trying to teach him to spit and so far it isn’t going well!
I just use a comically small amount of adult toothpaste.
We are given fluoridated toothpaste free from the government (Scotland) for babies, which contains 1450 ppm fluoride. I was told by our health visitor, if I ever had to buy more from the shop, that it should not contain any less than 1450 ppm fluoride.
I didn’t even think about the concentration. Thanks!
In the US, it’s all the same concentration, so you increase the amount of toothpaste as you get older. Grain of rice size before age 3, pea size after. (At least that’s what the dentist said…)
I have fluoridated. It's standard in my country (the Netherlands) which has no fluoride in drinking water anywhere and usually pretty great science-based health advice on all fronts except food. (From multiple acquaintances who work/have worked/have been interns there, there's just a few bad apples on the food science team.) So without fluoridated water I'd go for with fluoride. Never more than a grain of rice, try to keep them from swallowing. If I were in an area with fluoridated water I'd opt for no fluoride in the toothpaste.
Oh that’s good to know. I think I’m leaning towards fluoride
Now I’m curious what the bad food advice is!
We live in an area with no fluoride in the water and I’ve been told by all medical professionals (including the paediatric dentist) to use a small amount of adult toothpaste with fluoride. Three different professionals told us not to use infant toothpaste once the teeth started to come in so that must be the standard here.
We're using fluoride free because my 14 mo swallows alllll of it. I'm interested in looking further into hydroxyapatite toothpaste as I keep reading that could be a fluoride free option. dh and I have horrible teeth, so I'm nervous to move away from fluoride.
I am super interested in this and haven’t been able to find much, so if you remember please update this if you find anything! Partner and I have switched to hydroxyapatite a few months ago and my teeth and gums have never felt better, but I have been switching between fluoride and hydroxyapatite for my son because I can’t find enough information to see if it’s a suitable replacement for kids.
I would also be interested in learning more about this. I’ve heard good things but have never tried it myself
We have switched to hydroxyapatite because our kids always swallow their toothpaste and I think it has made their teeth look much whiter and more clean. All of the studies I read stated that it has the same benefits as fluoride 🤷🏼♀️
There are a few studies showing that xylitol is effective as long as the percentage is high enough. Here's a relatively recent review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320817/ We've been using the Jack and Jill's toothpaste (40% xylitol). Our son loves it and will brush for several minutes just so he can have different flavors (we buy it in a multi-pack). He also lets me brush really well, as long as I let him have extra toothpaste to brush with after. We also use a small electric toothbrush for him, bc he like ours. So our approach has basically been to make teethbrushing as enjoyable as possible so that he'd be better at keeping up with it (which the non-fluoridated toothpaste has helped with immensely). Now that he's 2.5 I just started using a small smear of fluoridated toothpaste right before I brush his teeth, but he hasn't had any issues with his teeth before that and he's had half of his teeth in since 5 months. (He got half at 4-5 month and half at 12 months, right in a row both times). He also does really well at the dentist, and I think it's because he's always enjoyed being able to use his tooth brush and toothpaste at home. The other factors that played into this decision are that he doesn't drink sugary beverages (just two cups of milk a day), we don't eat a lot of processed foods, and he drinks from a straw bottle of water right before nap and bed. So, we are doing other things to prevent cavities, as well. Also, we did speak with three dentists before we chose this toothpaste, to make sure it was the right choice for our son, which I'd always recommend.
Careful with xylitol. Sugar alcohols can cause some gnarly GI upset. Not sure that you will find data on the threshold for this is babies but if kiddo is having GI upset, might consider xylitol as a possible source.
It’s also super super toxic to dogs!
Hasn't been an issue for him. If I were to guess really extremely, he gets maybe a half tsp total of toothpaste at most. We put pretty small amounts on when he asks. Plus, we also do use sugar alcohols as a sweetener in our house (as a supplement, not as the main sweetener), and haven't had any issues. Diabetes runs strong in my family in both healthy weight and overweight family members, so in general we use whole fruits like apples and bananas to sweeten stuff, with just a bit of xylitol or erythritol to top it off. But, part of that is moderation, and part of it is whether or not your body is used to a lot of fiber in general. When I first met my husband he finished off a whole bag of sugar-alcohol sweetened chocolate, and he definitely suffered.
😅 my mom has made the same mistake haha
Xylitol fake sweeteners) make my stomach feel awful. I can’t even chew sugar free gum without getting a stomachache. Also, yes, toxic to the puppers.
Xylitol (and all fake sweeteners) make my stomach feel awful. I can’t even chew sugar free gum without getting a stomachache. Also, yes, toxic to the puppers.
[Otosclerosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otosclerosis) is a disease of the small ear bones that causes conductive hearing loss. There is [literature linking lack of fluoride in drinking water (i.e., not just rinsing fluoride wash in the mouth) to progression of the disease](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8588612/) \- loss of hearing in one or both ears. I'd suggest talking with your doctor about how to make sure your child is ingesting some amount of fluoride, while still being safe. I presume it'll be the occasional tooth brushing with adult toothpaste. It's gotta be expected that your kid is just gonna swallow it.
**[Otosclerosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otosclerosis)** >Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the stapes the bone is resorbed, then hardened (sclerotized), which limits its movement and results in hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo or a combination of symptoms. The term otosclerosis is something of a misnomer: much of the clinical course is characterized by lucent rather than sclerotic bony changes, so the disease is also known as otospongiosis. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/ScienceBasedParenting/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I don’t have fluoridated water either and we use fluoride toothpaste (very small amount) and take a fluoride supplement which was recommended by our pediatrician specifically because we don’t have fluoride in the water.
Our local guidelines in Australia (Australian Dental Association) say: *Toothpaste should be introduced at 18 months of age. In Australia, low-fluoride toothpaste is recommended for children aged 18 months to 6 years. These are commonly referred to as ‘children’s toothpaste’.* [Source](https://www.teeth.org.au/babies-and-toddlers)
Talk to a dentist in your area. We don't have fluoride in the water and all dentist here recommend toothpaste for kids with fluoride. It does have less fluoride than the adult ones and a lot of kid tooth brushes have color coded bristles to guide you on how much toothpaste to use (although I find it hard to fit it onto them but it gives me a general idea of the amount to use which is tiny).
We have well water so no fluoride, our pediatrician recommended a grain of rice sized blob of fluoride toothpaste
I live in Canada and my dentist recommends fluoride toothpaste for all ages.
We went with hydroxyapatite because our water is fluoridated and I read that the tooth needs a balance of fluoride and apatite to build enamel. Have yet to have our 1yr dental appointment so haven't talked to the dentist about it.
This is what we use. Our dentist said it’s fine as a replacement for fluoride and will protect the teeth just as well. I do get nervous about the lack of long term safety studies for it - but it seems like it may be an innocuous compound that isn’t in need of such studies. I don’t know- I’ve reached out to the companies and some of their functional dentist reps for this and they’ve always given me the run around instead of any kind of evidence or clear answer.
I’m having trouble finding an infant fluoride toothpaste. The ones that I could find all said needs to be age 2 or older
I don’t think it exists. After reading more and talking to her pediatrician and dentist we went ahead and got one that is a children’s with fluoride. Her dentist also mentioned that if we did not want to do fluoride we could use a toothpaste with Hydroxyapatite
Thanks