Few parents will disagree; teaching your child to brush their teeth on a consistent basis is easier said than done. On most occasions there will be tears, tantrums and everything else involved in avoiding the habit. In simple terms, it’s just something that a little person doesn’t want to do.
While we could mull over all of the techniques to make the “convincing process” easier, we’ll leave that to the parenting experts. Instead, we’re going to look at the role of toothpaste and how this is crucially important in developing young teeth. Sure, the previous sentence may sound obvious, but some of the facts regarding infant toothpaste aren’t well-documented yet can make life of the parent easier.
It’s something that the children’s dentist Great Portland Street, London would back up and that in itself highlights just how this information simply must be taken into account. Let’s now take a look at some of these toothpaste-tips for young children.
There’s no such thing as a “children’s toothpaste brand”
Let’s get one of the common misconceptions out of the way first, there’s no such thing as a “children’s toothpaste brand.” In fact, while we aren’t going to name any names, there are plenty of brands that are marketed as this which don’t sell products with enough fluoride in them. The result of this is simple; with too little fluoride, it promotes the chances of tooth decay occurring.
The lowdown on family toothpaste
With so many products seemingly targeted at children, in some ways it appears as though anyone who has not reached adulthood should be using toothpaste of this ilk.
Well, to put hard and fast fingers on it, children can tend to use family toothpaste as soon as they reach about 7-years-old. The only requirement is that there is between 1,300 and 1,500 parts per million fluoride within it. It means that ultimately, most family toothpaste is perfectly fine.
On the flip side, any child under the age of six who don’t have any existing medical conditions should be turning to something else. They should be looking towards a product with a much lower amount of fluoride in; somewhere in the region of 1,000 ppm.
Don’t use the same amount of toothpaste for every age group
The amount of toothpaste that you give to your child is absolutely crucial. If your little one is younger than three, a very tiny amount should be used. Once they get to this age, turn to a pea-sized amount. It’s only after they surpass 6-years-old that you can start to use “normal” quantities.
On the subject of age…
We’ve mentioned age a lot through this article and to put more numbers into our claims, you should be looking to brush your little one’s teeth as soon as their first milk teeth start to come through. This is likely to occur once they reach around six months and from this point on, you should be using a suitable fluoride toothpaste (as we’ve already discussed).