Children use too much toothpaste, says CDC

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children use too much toothpaste to brush their teeth. They add that this may be a concern because of the excessive intake of fluoride in children.

The CDC released a report last week after a survey of parents and their children aged 3 to 15 years. They found that more than 40% of children aged 3 to 6 years used more than the recommendation of the CDC and the American Dental Association regarding the amount of toothpaste. Both agencies recommend that children aged 3 to 6 years only use a quantity of toothpaste the size of a pea when brushing.

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Children under 3 years old should only use a brush of toothpaste the size of a grain of rice on their brushes, says the CDC and the American Dental Association. Their survey showed that only 12% of children aged 3 to 6 years used the smear and 49.2% a pea size. The survey found that preschool children of this age used either half of the dough (20.6%) or the full load (17.8%) of their dough. They noted that about 60% of children and teens used a half-load or a full load of toothpaste on their brushes. The survey also found that only about 34.2% of children aged 3 to 15 brushed their teeth once a day, contrary to recommendations that suggest brushing their teeth twice a day.

The CDC warns that using too much toothpaste can damage the enamel. This is mainly due to the excess of fluoride swallowed by children in the toothpaste. Excess fluoride ingested can lead to dental fluorosis that can damage developing teeth and cause white spots and discoloration of teeth.

The new report examined the use of approximately 5,157 children's brushing and toothpaste between 2013 and 2016. Current recommendations from the CDC as well as from the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) suggest that Children should start brushing their teeth before the age of two. However, the ADA and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommend brushing your teeth with a toothpaste as soon as the baby starts to teething, around 6 months old. This new survey reveals that most babies (80%) start brushing their teeth after the age of 1 year.

"Excessive ingestion by young children can discolor and chafe permanent teeth," according to the CDC. The report adds, "The recommendations are intended to balance the benefits of fluoride exposure for the prevention of tooth decay with the potential risk of fluorosis when excessive amounts of fluoride toothpaste are swallowed by young children …" The results of this study point out parents supervise young children during brushing and monitor the ingestion of fluoride.

The limitations of this survey were that parents self-reported their children's brushing habits and were not observed first-hand. In addition, the type of toothpaste (containing fluorine or not) has not been taken into account.