Fluoride for baby

[mackmama]

If your water does not contain fluoride, do you give your DC a fluoride supplement? If so, at what age did you start? Thanks!

[jent]

I did when we lived in a non-fluoride area. We started at 6 months.

Did you ask your ped?

[buddyleebaby]

Our ped suggested flouride but our pediatric dentist said we should supplement with xylitol instead. Our ped. was ok with that.

My son was two.

[eagle]

there seems to be some evidence that using fluoride for primary teeth does not provide a significant benefit in the prevention of caries. i think people are still working on the research although the ada still recommends fluoride supplements at this time.

there are also worries of dental fluorosis with fluoride supplements but in general thats with heavy use. this is also why people avoid fluoride toothpaste for kids with baby teeth.

google stuff and talk to your dentist and peds.

[Uno-Mom]

We supplement with flouride. I can't recall when we started, it was on the later side. I haven't heard of that other supplement - what is is?

I hate that our water has no flouride! I have terrible teeth and so do many of my childhood friends (I've lived here all my life). Sure, some local kids have healthy teeth but anecdotal evidence is that many of us are a mess.

[fedoragirl]

Oh, I'd like to know too. DD is 21 months and has had no fluoride supplements, water, or toothpaste. Should I start her on fluoride supplements?
DS is 5 weeks old, and we were given a combo of vit. D and fluoride supplements. The water here has traces of fluoride--so not much.
I would prefer xylitol supplement but where can one get it?

[brittone2]

Spry makes a lightly cherry flavored clear xylitol gel for infants. Several companies now make xylitol containing toothpastes, some with and some without fluoride. Trader Joe's carries a fennel flavored xylitol toothpaste. Spry has a mint paste that is pretty much like a traditional toothpaste in flavor (very minty). They offer fluoride free and fluoride containing toothpastes, so just read labels.

DS1 had an early cavity (at 15 months) and we had fluoridated water at the time. We started using xylitol at that time based on our research. He's been cavity-free since that time, thankfully. Xylitol has worked well for our family and our dentists have been totally on board. We don't do a fluoride varnish and our (public) water doesn't have fluoride in it. We haven't had fluoridated water since he was a toddler.

Xylitol kills the strep mutans bacteria that causes tooth decay. They can't digest xylitol (it is a sugar alcohol), and therefore they die off. To me, it makes more sense to treat the underlying cause of decay.

There's an old C&EN article in the archives that has some interesting discussion on fluoride. One of the points in it is that fluoride may work by delaying eruption of the adult teeth. By delaying their eruption slightly, the spend less time exposed to sugar/starch that feed the bacteria. There's less time for the cavity to form as a result.

eta: here is the Chemical and Engineering News piece that discusses the delayed eruption of secondary teeth:
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/84/8436gov1.html

With xylitol fluorosis isn't a concern.

It is toxic to dogs (it drops their blood sugar rapidly) so keep it away from your dogs if you opt to use it.

[marymoo86]

There was recent studies by the NIH about the problems with too much fluoride as it builds in the system.

I would not.

"Caries incidence and prevalence have decreased significantly over the last few decades due to the widespread use of fluoride. However, an increase in the prevalence of dental fluorosis has been reported simultaneously in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities. Dental fluorosis occurs due to excessive fluoride intake during the critical period of tooth development. For the permanent maxillary central incisors, the window of maximum susceptibility to the occurrence of fluorosis is the first 3 years of life. Thus, during this time, a close monitoring of fluoride intake must be accomplished in order to avoid dental fluorosis. This review describes the main sources of fluoride intake that have been identified: fluoridated drinking water, fluoride toothpaste, dietary fluoride supplements and infant formulas. Recommendations on how to avoid excessive fluoride intake from these sources are also given."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21701188

[fedoragirl]

Spry makes a lightly cherry flavored clear xylitol gel for infants.

So, I should use the toothpaste on DS (5 weeks old) rather than give the Vit. D/Fluoride supplements? Do I use it twice daily?

I have the Spry toothpastes for us. Can DD at 21 months use it, as well? I thought kids under 6 used nn-fluoridated toothpaste, etc. I have the gum as well but I can't offer that to DD yet.

So, I guess DD is fine without all the added fluoride since she hasn't had much to begin with.

[daisymommy]

I personally (and many other people as well) believe ingesting flouride is toxic to the body. I would avoid it for small children, not give it on purpose.

[brittone2]

So, I should use the toothpaste on DS (5 weeks old) rather than give the Vit. D/Fluoride supplements? Do I use it twice daily?

I have the Spry toothpastes for us. Can DD at 21 months use it, as well? I thought kids under 6 used nn-fluoridated toothpaste, etc. I have the gum as well but I can't offer that to DD yet.

So, I guess DD is fine without all the added fluoride since she hasn't had much to begin with.

For my own kids, I would do vit D3 separate from the fluoride.

The spry you can just use to wipe her gums. 2x a day should be fine IMO.

If you have the fluoride free Spry your 21 month old can use it, but as you know it is very minty, which some kids don't like. If you have fluoridated toothpaste I wouldn't give until DC can spit reliably and isn't at risk of swallowing it. There are several brands now that offer fluoride-free/xylitol containing pastes. If you go in WFs or similar they have several options. eta: just be sure to check/double check the box and ingredients because there are a lot of pastes that contain both xylitol and fluoride. If you don't want the fluoride, read carefully.

http://www.amazon.com/Xlear-Xylitol-Strawberry-Banana-Flavor/dp/B004769M8E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1319115126&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Natural-Cosmetics-Toothpaste-Strawberry/dp/B000Z95GSW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1319115126&sr=8-8

eta: here's a kiss my face w/ xylitol that is fluoride free
http://kissmyface.com/product/item/154 but again, read carefully because they also have an almost identical looking one that *does* contain fluoride: http://kissmyface.com/product/item/155

We have two brands upstairs (from WFs) that are fluoride free but contain xylitol. I can check later today and give you the brands.

[doberbrat]

Aquafresh makes a training toothpaste w/xylitol that we've been happy with. Our dentist told me that traditional training toothpastes are useless so we use this instead. The jason one is pretty nice. dd2 doesnt like the flavor much but I insist. The stuff from TJ's is a no go for the kids around here :(

[lizzywednesday]

...
http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Natural-Cosmetics-Toothpaste-Strawberry/dp/B000Z95GSW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1319115126&sr=8-8

...

We use this one with DD (19 mo's) ... it's neat & she likes it, so it makes brushing all 4 of her teeth less of a pain for both of us.

[MamaMolly]

Aquafresh makes a training toothpaste w/xylitol that we've been happy with.

I didn't know this! Maybe I can find it in the stores here. Trying to find a more natural alternative to the Oragel training paste in a B&M store has been a challenge. Thanks!

[brittone2]

I didn't know this! Maybe I can find it in the stores here. Trying to find a more natural alternative to the Oragel training paste in a B&M store has been a challenge. Thanks!
My closest grocery store (very mainstream) has a small natural products section and they carry the Earth's Best toddler toothpaste. BRU may carry it too?

[AnnieW625]

I did not do fluoride with Dd1 until she could spit out the fluoride.

Molly, not sure if you can get it where you are, but Aquafresh makes a sacharrin free and all natural flavor baby toothpaste. I got it at Target, but I am sure you can get it on Amazon.

[Momit]

We use Burt's Bees "Berry Bee" flavor. Ingredient list includes cranberry extract and xylitol. Our dentist said that the actual scrubbing of the teeth with a brush is the most important aspect of brushing.

We did do a combo fluoride/vitamin D supplement when we lived in an area without fluoridated water - I went back and forth about it quite a bit but finally decided to do it.

[mackmama]

Forgive me, but I'm a little sleep-deprived and confused... if I use xylitol, should I use toothpaste or supplemental drops? DC is 9mo. Thanks!

[YouAreTheFocus]

..... Trader Joe's carries a fennel flavored xylitol toothpaste.....

Hmm, this is interesting to me...my 2 yo LOVES the Weleda Tooth Gel which is also fennel flavored. Going to have to try him on the TJ's, I'd like to switch him to xylitol but he wouldn't go for any of those fruity ones. Thanks!

[Melanie]

No. I think ingested flouride is not just useless but also toxic. The benefit to teeth is when it's directly applied to them. Thus populations with a natural source of flouridated water do tend to have healthier teeth, but that is because of a lifetime of exposure to that water on their teeth. The flouride artificially inserted into our water supplies is a bi-product of the fertilizer industry and, IMNSHO, toxic. The cities are getting paid to dispose of toxic waste into our homes.

Since you asked... ;)