The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry 

Parents: Limit the Amount of Toothpaste Used By Preschoolers

Recent research shows that brushing with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste provides the recommended level of fluoride for caries prevention in preschool-aged children in addition to decreasing the risk of fluorosis. Fluorosis is a damaging oral condition caused by over-ingestion of fluoride and usually presents as white flecks on the tooth enamel.

The recently published article, Fluoride levels in whole saliva of preschool children after brushing with 0.25 g (pea-sized) as compared to 1.0 g (full-brush) of a fluoride dentifrice, by Pamela DenBesten, DDS, MS, and Hee Soo Ko, DMD, appears in the July/August issue of Pediatric Dentistry, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. DenBesten and Dr. Ko evaluated the amount of salivary fluoride in two groups of preschool-aged children. One group of children brushed with only a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste while the other group used a full brush. The researchers found that baseline salivary fluoride levels were either the same or not significantly reduced in children who brushed with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.