Any thoughts on a 5 yo who can't tolerate toothpaste?

[lnitti]

My dd1 will be 6 in March. She still brushes her teeth with just water. Is this ok?

She cannot tolerate the taste of any toothpaste. I think she is a super taster. She is also a picky eater, and can't drink anything other than milk or water. We've tried a couple different toothpastes and she gags and almost vomits.

[velochic]

What flavor does the dentist use to clean her teeth? Maybe try that flavor.

[lnitti]

Originally Posted by velochic

What flavor does the dentist use to clean her teeth? Maybe try that flavor.

none, the hygienist does it without any paste or anything. She says it is ok because she drinks fluoridated water Apparently she doesn't realize that 1) the fluoride in water is a manufacturing waste product and not sodium fluoride, and 2) fluoridated water is bad for you!

Even if dd could tolerate the taste, we would probably not use fluoride toothpaste anyways!

[4Marmalade]

My ds1 is similar. We bought a lot of different toothpastes before we found one he can tolerate. Unfortunately, it is the most sticky, gross pink stuff that stains our bathroom counter . I think it's OralB. I'm sure it wouldn't work but what about baking soda?

[Rani]

My daughter is this way. Super taster...hates mint, chocolate..list goes on..

We found one toothpaste finally that worked..the toms of maine kid toothpaste that is orange mango. She loved it. Eventually a few years ago once she had a lot of adult teeth we had to switch to one that works better, mean to say, one that cleans harder as eventually the kiddie toothpaste was less effective.

Now we taste tested a whole bunch of them till we found a regular adult NON MINT toothpaste that she will use. I can go look at the name of it if you want it. But if you haven't tried the orange mango, give it a try.

[cyncyn]

My dd is really sensitive to toothpaste and other flavors as well. She will use Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry or Logodent Strawberry.

[klt]

Originally Posted by lnitti

none, the hygienist does it without any paste or anything. She says it is ok because she drinks fluoridated water Apparently she doesn't realize that 1) the fluoride in water is a manufacturing waste product and not sodium fluoride, and 2) fluoridated water is bad for you!

Even if dd could tolerate the taste, we would probably not use fluoride toothpaste anyways!

My son hated the mint flavored ones. We now use a Crest for Kids that is like a strawberry gel.
But based on your above comment, why don't you just brush with water?

[StephandOwen]

DS has autism and big issues with new foods/stuff that goes in his mouth. For the time he got his first tooth until just about a month ago he would only used Orajel toddler training toothpaste (berry blast flavor). Last month his dentist suggested trying to switch him to a different toothpaste, one that would clean his teeth better (either a kid or adult one). The dentist gave us half a dozen little tubes so we could try a few different ones instead of going out and blindly buying some until we found one he would use. The one he will use now is Crest (adult) Cavity Protection Regular Paste. It doesn't really have any flavor to it, which is a good thing for him. Now our routine is that ds gets to brush his teeth with the toddler toothpaste and then I follow up with brushing his teeth with the Crest toothpaste. I use a very minimal amount and only brush a small section at a time. After I brush a small section I allow him to rinse and spit. Doing that helped him a lot with getting used to the new toothpaste.

[octobermom]

My DD the same we have best success with TOMs of main silly strawberry the rest shes just gags over.

Deanna

[One_Girl]

My dd loves the watermelon colgate toothpaste. There is a toddler paste with no flouride, but I am not sure that there is a point to buying something without flouride when she already isn't using a paste with flouride. I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that the flouride is the cavity preventing element in the toothpaste and the rest isn't important. Has she had cavities or anything? Have you brought this up with her dentist (hygenists don't have as much training as dentists)? If the dentist thinks it is okay and she isn't having cavities then I think you should let it go.

[ecoteat]

DD has always used the Weleda child's paste. It's a very mild flavor. When I went to buy some last week they didn't have it, so we bought the Weleda plant gel toothpaste and it tastes very similar to the child's paste. DD loves it. These are pretty expensive, but we use such a small amount on her little mouth it lasts a long time.

[eclipse]

My kids all just use plain water. None of them like paste, although my dd will occasionally use a little. Anyhow, the dentist said it's fine.

[A&A]

I'm with a couple of other mamas--Toms of Maine Silly Strawberry is the ONLY toothpaste ds will use. Everything else causes him to gag. (It comes both with fluoride and without.)

[mrskingred]

Another vote here for Toms of Main Silly Strawberry.

[MamaMamaMama!]

what about just salt water?

[eclipse]

FTR, it's my understanding that, other than as a means of delivering flouride, toothpaste's only benefit is that many people like the taste/feeling of brushing with it rather than with plain water. If you aren't going to use flouridated tooth paste anyway, there's really no reason to use it if your child prefers to use plain water.

[RedWoofs]

Toms of Main fan

I'll echo the other PPers: Toms of Maine Sillly Strawberry has a mild taste, soft texture, and is the only toothpaste my DS actually likes.
Second runner up: Colgate Watermelon Gel

[mumkimum]

If you'd really want her to use something, and it needs to be tasteless, I'd consider getting the spry infant/toddler tooth gel. It's the most tasteless 'toothpaste' I've used (tried it when dd used it). The act of brushing though does more cleaning than the toothpaste, so as long as she's brushing reguarly that's more important.

Other than that, the wedela toothpastes (calendula and I think there's a pink one) would likely be the most gentle flavored compared to others, if you haven't tried those. And Toms of Maine makes an (adult) apricot toothpaste that is extremely mild. I used it for awhile and dd did to and really liked it as well.

[crl]

Originally Posted by eclipse

FTR, it's my understanding that, other than as a means of delivering flouride, toothpaste's only benefit is that many people like the taste/feeling of brushing with it rather than with plain water. If you aren't going to use flouridated tooth paste anyway, there's really no reason to use it if your child prefers to use plain water.

That's my understanding too. I seem to remember that the mechanical action of the toothbrush removing food particles, etc is actually more effective without toothpaste. So if you don't want fluoride, I think water is just fine.

Catherine

[craft_media_hero]

Hmm, well my 6yo actually really likes using baking soda to brush her teeth. Or just plain salt?