Tips for buying Baby Paste

Oral hygiene should begin from an early age. When we speak of oral hygiene, we invariably speak of toothpaste and toothbrush, but we often neglect the very fact that kids need a different variety of toothpaste that is low in fluoride content and other harmful ingredients. In addition to the toothpaste, the brush must also be specially made for the soft gum of babies. Unlike choosing brushes that are easy to touch and feel, choosing a baby paste is not as simple as smelling and tasting it! An average tube of baby paste might contain harmful levels of fluoride in it, enough to cause damage to the delicate baby gums and dentures.

Carefully Choosing a Baby Paste

Fluoride is a very important ingredient that helps in the formation of foam and cleans teeth, but fluoride is not nutritious or tasty or good for the health, in fact swallowing it regularly over time is known to cause harm. Having said that, Fluoride helps in keeping teeth strong and cavity free, therefore we suggest you choose a baby paste that has a very mild amount of the chemical in it, ideally about 1 milligram in every gram of the paste for babies less than 3 years old. For kids aged 3 and above, a baby paste slightly higher in fluoride content is recommended. 

Irrespective of the age, always instruct your kid to use little amounts of the paste. More paste will cause copious amounts of foam which may be too much for the small oral cavity to hold, and since kids have a propensity of swallowing everything until the age of 3, excessive paste will end up in their stomachs.

The Fluoride Confusion

Parents often get confused about over the topic of picking the right chemicals in baby paste. While some people are of the view that chemicals such as fluoride is necessary for healthy teeth and it should be present at least in little amounts in the paste, others are extremely unconvinced about the chemical’s worth. Baby teeth never stick too long anyway and by the time kids turn 6 they will have lost and regained most of the existing dentures. The final set of teeth that appears at the end of the sixth year is what is believed to stay with the owner for the rest of the life. So the general opinion among dentist is to skip fluoride or use it in very small proportions for babies under the age of 4.  

And finally, always buy baby paste from a reputed brand for your tot!