How to Choose Toothpaste for your Child

At Smiles for Kids Pediatric Dentistry, we often get asked what type of toothpaste is best. The answer is that is all depends. Here’s why.

AGE

For infants that are less than 2 years old, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends using a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste to brush baby teeth.  The smear of toothpaste amounts to the size of a grain of rice. At about 3 years old, you can start using a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Kids (and adults) never really need to use more toothpaste than that.

TASTE

Most kids have a preference when it comes to flavor. Most fluoride toothpastes are available in kid-friendly flavors like bubble gum. Where it gets more challenging is if you child complains about the flavor. Fortunately, there’s quite a few options on the market these days. You may have to experiment with them until you find the right one. For those that have trouble with all flavoring, there’s toothpaste called OraNurse which is flavorless but still has the benefit of fluoride.

The main thing to remember is that Dr. Lindhorst and Dr. Jadav recommend using fluoride toothpaste. As long as you have that active ingredient in there, we’re happy with any brand of toothpaste that you choose to use.

RISK FOR CAVITIES

Some of our patients are at higher risk for cavities. This could be due to enamel hypoplasia, crowding, history of cavities, oral hygiene, or having braces. For these patients, we may recommend toothpaste with a higher concentration of fluoride. We have these available at our office for the patients that need them. Using this specific toothpaste can help strengthen areas that may be weaker or help prevent cavities on those teeth that are just more prone to them.

Please let us know if you have any questions at drkasia@smiles-for-kids.com.

Dr. Jadav

Smiles for Kids Pediatric Dentistry