The children of today seem to have a problem of using too much toothpaste while brushing their teeth, giving rise to dental fluorosis. This news has been corroborated by the Center for Disease Control too that says that many children squeeze out way too much. Using more than advised amounts of toothpaste can cause these dangers, to do with discoloration and pitting of teeth. Facts that have come to light indicate that kids aged between 3 and 6 years use more toothpaste than they need caused by a pattern where reflexes are not developed to that extent to stop swallowing too much unwittingly.
The American Dental Association sets things right:
Kids aged 2-3 years: Rice grain-sized smear
Kids aged 3 years and above: Pea-sized quantity.
Largely, fluoride toothpaste protects teeth by preventing tooth decay and cavities in two ways. When one consumes a large amount of sugar and carbs, the bacteria in the tooth become active and weaken the tooth by eating away your tooth enamel and is demineralized. Brushing the teeth with fluoride toothpaste remineralize the teeth again and kills the bacteria too.
However overdoing it at an early age robs the tooth of its precious enamel causing a condition called dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is characterized by small white spots on the teeth or streaking and in severe cases a brown discoloration of teeth and defects in the enamel. As is the case, with children they are in a continuous evolving process. However 20% of 3-6 year olds squeeze out to cover approximately half their toothbrush and 18% squeeze to cover the entire brush.
Kids are most at risk because their smile is still developing and teeth are also on their way to eruption until the age of 8. Even then a tooth formed still takes three years for it to fully mature.
Grown-ups can support great dental habits by beginning to brush their youngsters’ teeth with toothpaste when teeth initially show up, and proceeding until they’re at least 3.
Parents should then oversee brushing two times per day for a few minutes a period until kids adopt better cleanliness routines all alone. To ensure they’re brushing sufficiently long, have a go at singing “Happy Birthday” twice, utilizing a clock, or including an extraordinary brushing tune on YouTube.
While grown-ups need not be taught cleanliness and good hygiene since it is only with young children whose teeth are on the verge of developing who need to be told regarding use of toothpaste. It also helps the tube last for a longer stretch of time. It might require some convincing to do but the family needs to be told to squeeze the tube from the bottom rather than the middle.
Wrapping up
For adults, it may be routine spreading a ribbon of paste onto the brush and not make a mound on the toothpaste, but for children it needs to be agreed upon as a mandatory exercise to use toothpaste only as prescribed in the paragraphs above if one is to avoid being plagued by lingering conditions such as dental fluorosis.