What toothpaste is best for children?

Compared with adults, the oral mucosa of children is more fragile. Therefore, when children brush their teeth, they must not use adult toothpaste, because adult toothpaste will damage the oral mucosa and tooth enamel of children. Therefore, parents with young children at home should choose other children-specific toothpastes for their children. So which children-specific toothpastes are better to use?

Children's toothpaste should be selected like this:

1. First of all, try to choose toothpaste that does not contain fluoride or contains little fluoride.

2. Don’t choose flavored toothpaste just to get your baby to brush his teeth. Choose toothpaste without any special flavor. Most children's toothpastes on the market have specific fragrances, with fruit flavors being the most common. Although this is easy for babies to accept, it is also an important reason why babies eat toothpaste.

3. Give your children toothpaste that produces less foam. When it comes to toiletries (shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste), people often have the misconception that "the more foam, the cleaner it cleans." In fact, the amount of foam has nothing to do with the degree of cleanliness. The amount of toothpaste foam depends on its soap content. The soap content of high-foaming toothpaste is more than 18%. Soap is easily decomposed into caustic soda or ester acid in the saliva of the mouth, which not only irritates the oral mucosa, but also destroys the enzymes in the saliva, which will affect the tooth cleaning effect.

4. Do not use medicated toothpaste. Long-term use of anti-inflammatory toothpaste will cause the pathogenic bacteria in the mouth to develop drug resistance and easily lead to new infections. Moreover, the alkali and irritant substances in medicated toothpaste can damage the delicate mucous membrane in the mouth, causing inflammation of the gums, mouth, tongue, lips, throat, etc. Therefore, it is not suitable for young children to use.

What should we pay attention to when children's toothpaste contains fluoride

Children do not usually come into contact with many items containing fluoride, so the use of fluoride toothpaste is the main source of daily fluoride absorption for children. Long-term use will cause dental fluorosis, which is very scary. Therefore, children under 3 years old should be prohibited from using fluoride toothpaste, children aged 4-6 years old should use it with caution under the guidance of adults, and children over 7 years old can use it, but they must not swallow the toothpaste.

As parents, when buying toothpaste for children, we can use toothpaste with lower fluoride content, and it is not advisable to use adult toothpaste with high fluoride content. Toothpaste contains a small amount of fluoride, which can prevent tooth decay. However, long-term intake of high doses of fluoride can cause skeletal fluorosis, and in severe cases can cause acute fluoride poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, and arrhythmia. Children in particular are often not skilled in using toothbrushes, which results in relatively more toothpaste remaining in the gaps between their teeth. They may even swallow the remaining toothpaste, leading to increased fluoride intake.