Brushing teeth can help children’s oral health, and I believe parents have no doubt about this. However, is toothpaste used for brushing teeth? What toothpaste should I use? Parents are still debating to this day.

Is there any risk associated with using fluoride toothpaste?

Do children have to use toothpaste to brush their teeth?

Before answering these two questions, we need to first address a few other issues:

What is the purpose of brushing teeth?

What role does toothpaste play during the process of brushing teeth?

What is fluoride toothpaste? Can’t it really be used for children?

The purpose of brushing teeth

Teeth are divided into three parts: crown, root, and neck, with three layers from the outside to the inside: enamel, dentin, and dental nerves.

Enamel is the hardest shell, protecting the ‘soft and fragile dental nerves’.

Brushing teeth is to remove plaque from the surface of teeth, especially the adjacent surfaces of two teeth, to prevent dental caries, periodontal disease, including commonly referred to issues such as “excessive internal heat and gum bleeding”.

What is dental plaque?

Dental plaque can be understood as a “community” of bacteria that adheres to the surface of teeth and cannot be carried away by running water or rinsing. It can only be removed by mechanical friction.

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Dental surface after plaque staining

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Microscopic bacteria on the surface of teeth

It is worth emphasizing that after thorough removal, the plaque will grow back to its pre brushing level in about 8 hours.

So, the purpose of brushing teeth is to continuously and consistently remove them throughout one’s life.

Knowing the purpose of brushing teeth, let’s now understand the role of toothpaste in brushing teeth.

The function of toothpaste

The definition of toothpaste is a preparation that “assists” in brushing teeth, which increases the effectiveness of our brushing through friction, foaming, antibacterial and other effects.

Physical effects:

Friction agents, when combined with toothbrushes, enhance mechanical friction.

Chemical reaction:

Cleaners foam, emulsify, and adsorb dirt during the brushing process, dissolving some adhered substances to achieve cleaning purposes.

Biological function:

Mainly for its antibacterial effect, the effective components in toothpaste can inhibit the growth of oral pathogenic bacteria and suppress the formation of dental plaque.

Toothpaste on the market can usually be divided into two categories: regular toothpaste and efficacy toothpaste.

Functional toothpaste is ordinary toothpaste with added functional ingredients.

There are mainly the following types of effective toothpaste:

Fluoride toothpaste: Contains fluoride, mainly for preventing dental caries.

Inhibition of dental plaque and alleviation of gingivitis: Contains antibacterial ingredients and biologics.

Anti dentin sensitivity toothpaste: contains potassium nitrate and potassium chloride, stannous oxide or other stannous salts, bioactive glass, arginine, etc.

Whitening toothpaste: exogenous dyes, friction agents, urea peroxide (10%), hydrogen peroxide or other whitening substances.

Chinese herbal toothpaste: Ingredients include honeysuckle, tea tree, etc.

Knock black, highlight the key points in Central China

Highlight the key points and knock on the blackboard

The fluoride toothpaste we often refer to is toothpaste that contains a certain amount of fluoride.

Fluorine is one of the 14 essential trace elements for the human body and a constituent of the human body. Like other essential trace elements such as sodium and potassium in the human body, its effects on the body are dose-dependent. If the dose is too low, it has no effect. The appropriate dose has physiological effects, while high doses have toxic effects. It is meaningless to talk about toxicity without measurement.

The application of fluoride to prevent dental caries can be said to be one of the great contributions of preventive dentistry to humanity in the 20th century.
The local use of fluoride in the oral cavity is safe, including the use of fluoride toothpaste and professional local fluoride use under the guidance of a dentist in oral clinical practice.

Recommended dosage of fluoride toothpaste:

Children under 3 years old: The dosage per dose is the size of “rice grains” (in low fluoride and suitable fluoride areas).

Children aged 3-6 years old: Use a dosage of “peas or soybeans” each time.

Children aged 6 and above should use the same amount as adults.

When using, children should be encouraged to spit out foam as much as possible to avoid children swallowing it by mistake.

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So, do children have to use toothpaste to brush their teeth?

Dentists recommend using fluoride toothpaste for children to brush their teeth, which can better prevent dental caries!