Is there anythng really wrong with using a small amount of adult toothpaste when teaching young toddlers to use a toothbrush/clean their teeth?
I know there is toddler paste available but some parents are being told that adult paste is "really bad" for toddlers. Isnt all about creating a good life long habit?
Is it bad if toddlers swallow small amounts of toothhpaste?
It didnt kill any of my kids!

I've often wished for an old tube of toothpaste from the 1960s so I could compare the ingredient list to today's. The toothpaste your children grew up using was probably quite different from what we have today.

One thing current toothpastes tend to have is sodium lauryl sulfate which is a potent degreaser, also found in liquid soaps, shampoos, etc. You could say it's not dangerous but it really doesn't do skin any good.

There's also sodium monofluorophosphate which has been described as "not very toxic". Then there's sodium fluoride which is probably the part they mean when they say adult toothpaste is "really bad". It's been implicated in quite a few things, from stained teeth to lower IQ. It's put in a lot of water supplies and therein lies part of the problem - at which point is too much fluoride getting into our bodies, and hence the concern about swallowing toothpaste.

Toothpaste also contains sodium saccharin - artificial sweetener.

However, I have people passionately talk to me about how they won't drink anything but filtered or bottled water because of all the chemicals Councils put in the water supply, and this is while they're standing in front of me drinking beer and eating sausage rolls.

So, if those children are eating lollies and processed and canned foods and drinking all sorts of things from bottles, and having skin lotion rubbed on and trying their mum's perfume and deodorant, and their houses use fly spray and air fresheners and they walk or live beside roads where lots of cars pass by each day, then relatively speaking, chilren using adult toothpaste isn't such a big issue unless they're swallowing a lot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2012 11:36PM by J1.

Intereesting, but if it bothers some parents they can also buy suitable" baby toothpaste, but they need SO LITTLE it can hardly do much harm surely. they can always use baking soda or salt (only if its rock salt ...haha) and soon find out the kids won't clean their teeth at all! what's worse??
glad my kids are grown up, healthy and intelligent as we all used the same paste.

I buy kids toothpaste not for health reasons but because Trent finds the one we use too hot (as in spicy hot) and as the kids toothpaste has fruit flavours, he brushes longer.

Same as Lynette, my kids find adult toothpaste way too minty and spicy for their palates.

Interesting comments /// my daughter has just been told that kids toothpaste has very little flourid in it, and as its made in Australia, where they have flouride in the water ( we don't where we live )it is intended for the Australian market
After looking at the tube of paste the adult one has something 77gm of flouride and the kids one has got 6 gm
Hence the 3 kids are now on Adult paste
Thank goodness my kids are all grown up ? not easy being a mother in this day and age is it ???

I have bought and tried kids toothpaste with my children. Both find it too "hot" yet my daughter loves using red close up. My son on the other hand uses the kids one with the shark on it.
I tried the Natural brand which is supposed to be bubblegum flavoured did not go down well at all.
i personally dont think a tiny bit of adult toothpaste wont hurt.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2012 08:40AM by Zeetra.

While I was waiting for the grandchildren to clean the teeth last night. I looked at the toothpaste and it said Do not give to children under 6 years, I had never read that before

Oh perhaps I should look!! I wonder why...one would think even a very small amount wouldnt hurt and is better than none esp if you dont buy child's toothpaste.

Aside from ingestion, another issue with kids using adults toothpaste is "fluorosis" - which is discolouration of their teeth due to exposure to large amounts of fluoride. It is something to do with the enamel on baby teeth not being as thick or strong as adult teeth, and therefore reacting differently to fluoride. It seems that the problem is more connected to water supply and nutrition, but over exposure to adult toothpaste might do it as well.

[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2012 10:25PM by Jenna.

It is all "May" do this and that. I had four children who have virtually no cavities between them and they use d adult toothpaste at the time.I'd do nothing different if I had my parenting timeover again either.