Of late, due to my tooth, I visited the dentist quite regularly. And today, I even brought Yvette to see Dr Alex. I carried her on my arm and let her lied down on top of my body on the chair to let Dr Alex examined her tooth.
It’s indeed Yvette’s first experience with the dentist. She wasn’t very operative and this only last for good 5 mins which I think it’s good enough. (No cry at all.)
She lied on top of my body and was asked to open her mouth. Initially she resisted. Then Dr Alex passed her a mirror. He asked her to looked into the mirror and open her mouth again. It took him awhile to make Yvette open her mouth and she eventually did.
Dr Alex managed to put mini mirror into her mouth to check. Though it didn’t last for more than 20 seconds, I really think it’s a breakthrough for Yvette.
After the examination, I learnt some pointers on choosing toothpaste and giving sweets from Dr Alex. (His wife is a dentist too and they are parents of two.)
On giving sweets, he suggests to give sweet during the meal time not in-between meal to prevent cavity. (Our food create acid as we eat.)
On choosing toothpaste, I was surprised to find out a very small of Fluoride was absolute fine for babies with teeth /tooth below a year old even as young as 4-6 mths old. He told me there isn’t any medical proof that using Fluoride is harmful to babies, it is the amount we are using. Excessive use of Fluoride is then harmful to babies and toddler. In fact; using Fluoride free toothpaste will not benefit our babies and toddlers’ tooth at all.
For babies & Toddlers below 6, he suggested we can even use adult toothpaste but only a pea sized amount. He reminds me of the Fluoride content in the toothpaste too. We should not choose toothpaste with more than 1000 ppm F. 500 to 800 ppm F is a good range for babies and toddler according to Dr. Alex.
These two toothpastes look about the same. But if you really do pay attention on the packaging and the fine print of ingredient at the back of the box; you will notice the second toothpaste fail the selection requirement. So do read when choosing toiletries for our child, we need to be extra careful.
My take for now, I will stop buying Fluoride Free toothpaste (since it is safe and they are so expensive even I got them online) and switch Yvette to adult toothpaste (if she doesn’t mind using them due to the taste) when the existing tube is being used up. (This site is suggesting we can switch to adult toothpaste at 2.5 years old.)
I am not suggesting you to switch and this entry only serves a source of information to some of you out there. If you are not comfortable over using Non Fluoride Free toothpaste, then go ahead of not using it till you know it will not pose any danger to your child’s health. Always check with your own dentist!
This Review is not an Endorsement too.
Once In A LifeTime 
Pingback: Tweets that mention Can Babies/Toddlers(under 6) use Adult Toothpaste? « Once In A LifeTime -- Topsy.com
Hello, came across your blog while browsing… Funny, I too just did a post on teeth recently! (http://makingmum.blogspot.com/2010/05/weaning-wednesdays-breastfeeding-and.html)
Thanks for sharing… I kept reading recommendations not to use flouridated toothpaste since kids inadvertably swallow it, so your dentist’s recommendations are food for thought!
Hey Jus,
Your entry is very useful to me too. I do fall into the category of nursing my child in the night. And I do feel guilty over it, yes due to her tooth.
Luckily after the check, my dentist actually praised me on taking good care of my child’s tooth. Phew!
There are more facts about this dentist that I didn’t share in my entry:
1. He is a BA, B.D.S (Otago, NZ) and still doing further study in Dental. He will be back after to NZ after 3 years of service in Singapore.
2. He is a father of two children around my child age.
According to Dr. Alex, although kids keep swallowing the toothpaste, a very min. amount will not lead them to ingest an excessive amount of fluoride during tooth brushing. [Toothpaste ingestion during this critical period of adult tooth development is the greatest risk factor in the development of fluorosis.]
And one last thing, he actually didn’t suggest me not to let my child brush her teeth. He highlighted, our child at this age can’t do the job properly and that is one of the reason toward the risk of dental caries.
Chloe is still using baby toothpaste, my main concern is I’m unsure if she will spit all the toothpaste out.
Check the fine print of the toothpaste you are using now and let her try. Slowly switch her over?