One of the easiest things parents can do to keep their child’s teeth healthy is to choose the right toothpaste. The Canadian Dental Association recommends children living in Richmond use a fluoride paste as soon as teeth come in.

Fluoride is a mineral that is naturally in the water all over the world. People who drink water with the right amount of fluoride have very low rates of tooth decay, with no other side effect. There is not enough fluoride in the drinking water in Richmond, so all children, even babies, need to use fluoride toothpaste to keep teeth strong and healthy. One-year olds who are brushed with fluoride paste are 3x less likely to get tooth decay.

The stores do not make it easy for parents to find the correct tooth paste however! If parents look for toothpaste by their child’s age, they will buy the wrong type. The toothpaste in stores is made for the United States. Children under the age of 3 years old in the US get their fluoride from the water they drink, so all the toothpaste for this age group is fluoride-free. Parents of children less than 3 years old in Canada need to ignore product age recommendations and choose toothpaste for “Kids” in order to buy the correct type of toothpaste.

Obviously if fluoride is in the water all over the world it is safe to swallow, but we don’t want young children swallowing too much toothpaste. Children who do not spit should be brushed with a rice grain-sized amount of fluoride paste twice a day. Children who can spit can use a pea-sized amount.

Preventing tooth decay is not always easy. Choosing fluoride toothpaste can definitely help!

For information about preventing children’s tooth decay, call the Richmond Public Health Dental Program at 604-233-3197.