Science Memes

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flouride (mander.xyz)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Non-fluoridated toothpaste is mainly for kids who are too young to be able to consistently spit it all out. The concentration of fluoride in toothpaste is high enough that you shouldn't be swallowing it, because doing that on the regular is harmful to your teeth. Gray discoloration is one of the first symptoms.

If your kids are capable of doing "rinse and spit," then they should be using fluoridated toothpaste.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

And even then, there's a significant safety margin worked into the advice that you shouldn't swallow toothpaste. You'd need to eat several tubes of prescription strength toothpaste to get sick from fluoride.

Still rinse and spit though

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Absolutely true - and I just remembered, even if your kids are little and using non-fluoridated toothpaste, you should still be using this time to teach them rinse and spit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

What is this rinse? You are supposed to leave the toothpaste on your teeth iirc. No water rinse.

Edit sorry realized this comes off harsh but not sure how to fix it. Lmao

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

With you having to judge millions of children, that you need to get high just to stay sane; you get a pass.

But there is a general recommendation to not eat or drink for 15-30min after brushing to give enough time for the fluoride to bind to any exposed enamel surfaces. It's also better to use a fluoridated mouthrinse over water, if getting the grittyness is what you're after.