A previous survey of more than 700 people showed that 33% of people choose to “brush their teeth” to prevent caries. We use toothpaste every day when we brush our teeth and when we brush our children’s teeth. Toothpaste is almost the most “daily use” commodity and a close partner in our lives.
But, do you really understand it? As far as we know, few people will carefully study the ingredients of the toothpaste on the back of the product.
Ingredients of Kids Toothpaste
The basic ingredients of toothpaste are friction agents, cleansing agents, wetting agents, adhesives, preservatives, sweeteners, fragrances, pigments and water. Among them, the most useful are friction agents and cleansing agents.
But when it comes to abrasives and cleansers, many people are beginning to wonder if these two words are not written in the ingredient list on the back of the toothpaste.
In fact, the most commonly used friction agents in toothpaste are natural calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide. Seeing these two ingredients, you can directly classify them as “friction agents”. The cleansing agent, or surfactant, makes the plaque and soft dirt easier to be removed when brushing your teeth. The dosage in toothpaste formulations is generally 1%-2%, and sodium lauryl sulfate is commonly used.
When you see this, everyone may have doubts again-since the basic ingredients of toothpaste are all the above, why do you feel that many toothpastes have different effects?
This is about the “functional ingredients” of toothpaste. Studies have investigated 34 kinds of commercially available toothpastes, 33 of which contain functional ingredients, which are mainly for preventing caries, anti-dental hypersensitivity, inhibiting dental plaque or reducing gum inflammation and whitening the tooth surface. Fluoride preparation is an important functional ingredient in toothpaste. 99% of toothpaste in the US market is fluoride toothpaste, 97% in the UK, and 90% in Northern Europe.
Most of the time, our knowledge of the efficacy of toothpaste comes from toothpaste advertisements and online information, and there have even been hot posts on the Internet promoting “fluoride-containing toothpaste is harmful to children”. Therefore, some toothpaste products for children even use “fluoride-free toothpaste”. “As a selling point. Of course, the dental industry has already affirmed the importance of the use of fluoride toothpaste, and the important role of fluoride in preventing dental caries has been confirmed by a large number of studies at home and abroad.
Custom Your Branded Kids Toothpaste Better
1. Understand the role of fluoride
Fluoride releases fluoride ions in the oral cavity, and undergoes a substitution reaction with crystals on the surface of tooth enamel to generate fluoroapatite, which reduces the solubility of enamel, thereby enhancing the resistance of teeth to various acid products. Fluoride can also promote the remineralization of enamel caries.
In addition, fluoride can also change the ecological environment of the oral cavity, which is not conducive to the growth of bacteria.
2. Understand the types of fluoride toothpaste
The fluoride in fluoride toothpaste sold in the market is mostly sodium monofluorophosphate or sodium fluoride. Recently, fluoride amine toothpaste has also begun to emerge in the market because of its superior anti-caries effect.
Studies have shown that early caries in deciduous teeth can be remineralized by using fluoride-containing toothpaste slurry, and clinically relevant effects can be observed when the fluoride concentration is greater than or equal to 500 ppm. Another study showed that fluoride toothpaste containing arginine can increase the remineralization level of tooth enamel by 4 times.
3. Concentration of fluoride and dosage of fluoride toothpaste
It is recommended to use toothpaste with a fluoride content of 500ppm for 1-5 years old (children who do not have the ability to gargle before the age of 3 should prevent accidental swallowing and avoid excessive swallowing); 6-11 years old, use toothpaste with a fluoride content of 1000ppm, which is greater than 11-year-old used toothpaste containing 1500ppm of fluoride.
Swallowing small amounts of fluoride toothpaste in young children will not cause serious consequences. Long-term daily intake of more than 40-100μg/kg body weight of fluoride during tooth germ development will cause mild dental fluorosis in permanent teeth. Children aged 0-4 should pay attention to the total intake of fluoride in drinking water, food, beverages and toothpaste.
