The perfect children's toothpaste?
Do you ever wonder about certain ingredients in your care products? Maybe you've even thought about fluoride in your toothpaste. But what about the fluoride in your child's toothpaste?
Why do we need fluoride in our toothpaste?
Fluoride is an essential trace element and thus a natural component of our body. Just like calcium, it ensures a healthy build-up of bones and teeth. Fluoride is also found in small quantities in natural foods, e.g. in black tea or seafood.
The mechanism of fluorides is based on several factors. Scientific findings show that fluorides act predominantly on the tooth surface to protect the hard tooth substance. There, together with calcium, they form a poorly soluble layer of small calcium fluoride crystals that lie like a coating on the tooth surface. When bacteria in the plaque produce acid, it must first penetrate this coating before it reaches the tooth. The crystals thus act like a protective buffer and can stop the demineralisation of the teeth.
At the same time, fluorides support remineralisation by helping to reincorporate calcium phosphates into the enamel more quickly. This makes your teeth more resistant. Fluorides also influence bacterial metabolism by inhibiting certain enzymes, which results in less tooth-damaging acid.
When should your child start using fluoride toothpaste?
In the best case scenario: starting with the first tooth. Baby teeth in particular are more susceptible to caries than permanent teeth due to their thinner enamel layer and lower mineralisation. The calcium fluoride layer can be applied to your child's teeth at an early stage, thus preventing caries and hardening the enamel. To brush, you or your toddler should use a grain of rice-sized fluoride (1000ppm) or a pea-sized amount of fluoride-containing children's toothpaste (500ppm) twice a day. From the age of six, toothpaste with a higher fluoride content (1000-1500ppm) is recommended. This is because the first teeth are changing and the permanent teeth are breaking through step by step.
What happens if your child swallows toothpaste?
The concern that swallowing toothpaste is harmful to health is unjustified - at least if we start from the usual, or recommended, quantities. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) states: "Children's toothpaste (with 0.05 % fluoride content) leads at most to abdominal pain after eating approx. 70 g, which corresponds to a whole tube. Poisoning is not to be feared." Even with a fluoride concentration of 1450 ppm, which corresponds to just under 0.15 % fluoride concentration, there is no fear of harmful side effects if one sticks to the recommended amount.
Hier you can read more about it.
What happens if your child does not brush their teeth (properly)?
Brushing with a toothpaste without fluoride makes your teeth (or your child's teeth) less protected against acid attacks and therefore more susceptible to caries.
Nevertheless, you should pay attention to the correct dosage. If the fluoride intake is too high, dental fluorosis can occur, especially in children. You can recognise it by white spots or streaks in the tooth enamel. However, the cause is usually too much systemic fluoride intake, e.g. through fluoride tablets or fluoridated water. The risk of over-supply is extremely low if you use dental care products correctly. Under certain circumstances, you can carry out a so-called "fluoride anamnesis" with the dentist in order to reliably exclude a systemic overdose.
With our children's toothpaste, you don't have to worry about any negative side effects when cleaning your child's teeth and mouth! It contains no microplastics and strengthens the teeth with an optimal fluoride content of 1450 ppm from the age of six. The calcium also supports the remineralisation of the teeth. Last but not least, our children's toothpaste ensures fresh breath and a radiant smile!
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