How Much Toothpaste Should Use?
We (hopefully!) use it every day, but how often do we stop and think about what toothpaste is, why we use it and whether we are using it correctly? The idea to write about toothpaste came to me when I was at the vet this past weekend talking about the abhorrent breath of one of our dogs. The solution – you guessed it – brushing his teeth. He handed me a tube of chicken-flavoured toothpaste (I kid you not) and told me to practise what I preach to my own patients. This got me thinking that I should freshen up my readers on how to freshen up their mouths with – toothpaste!
How much toothpaste should you use?
I think most of us use more than is really necessary. While overuse cannot cause any harm (provided it is not swallowed), those who are thrifty may appreciate knowing that you really only need a pea-sized amount to do the job.
Should your toothpaste be CDA-approved?
The Canadian Dental Association’s “Seal of Recognition” evaluates dental-related products to verify that their research methodologies and statements of claim are valid and substantiated by science. For this reason, I feel most comfortable using and recommending to my patients those products that feature this seal. You can search on the CDA’s website to determine which products feature this seal.
Toothpaste and children
For children under the age of two, I would recommend using water alone, without any toothpaste. For those who are older, look for a toothpaste that does not contain fluoride until you are certain that your child understands that he or she must not swallow the paste and learns how to spit it out instead. While fluoride is important to a child’s dental health, the ingestion of amounts found in toothpaste can cause fluorosis, a condition that at best causes permanent white marks on teeth, and at worst, can create unattractive dark brown stains and even a rough pitted surface on teeth. Excess fluoride can also lead to bone formation problems.
Sensitive teeth?
I feel like the dentist on the tv ads, but yes, I too recommend special toothpaste to my patients who have tooth sensitivity issues. To put it simply, they work and provide people with significant relief from their discomfort.
Whitening toothpastes
While you will not get the same results from a whitening toothpaste as you would from in-chair bleaching or take-home kits, over time, you may see some reasonable results. I would advise patients against excessive use of these toothpastes as over time as they may cause some damage to the tooth enamel. I would also recommend that kids under the age of 17 avoid whitening toothpastes.
As a note of caution, more and more I am seeing recommendations online for a home-made solution to tooth-whitening: baking soda and water. This is not a good idea as the baking soda is much too abrasive and can cause tooth damage by abrading the enamel.
Is toothpaste really necessary?
There are certainly benefits to the fluoride found in toothpaste, especially in children, teens and seniors. Toothpaste may also help one’s breath feel fresher in the short-term. However, in the long-run, fresh breath is the result of clean teeth and healthy gums which we get from the actual mechanical act of brushing – not from the paste we use. How you brush and how often you brush is always more important than what you brush with.
Steven Deskin is a Brantford Dentist in general practice.
