Floride Drops for Babies

I would do some internet research on this one. There is some controversy about fluoride. Also, the drops can cause staining of his teeth including his permanent ones, which they sometimes don't tell you about ;)

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Hi S.,
You are not suppose to be giving babies fluoride of any kind. Brush your baby's teeth with a non-flouride toothpaste and a soft tooth brush. My son is two years old and still brushing his teeth with a non-flouride toothpaste (recommended by our dentist). You can find this at WalMart. Please check with your dentist about this for a more elaborate explaination.

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There is a LOT of controversy surrounding fluoride and its safety in general, let alone for children. I know families that avoid it at all costs. But even the ADA, who would say fluoride is safe, does not recommend it in toothpaste for children under two.
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/infantsformula.asp

For the other end of the spectrum:
http://www.westonaprice.org/envtoxins/fluoride.html

fluoride is a highly reactive and toxic substance. This is why there isn't any in baby/toddler/kid toothpaste. Too much fluoride (for some people any at all) in the toothpaste and it will rip the enamel right off the teeth. Go look into what Europeans are doing about unwanted fluoride in their water and the reactions that many people are having. You may want to switch yourself OFF of fluoride (Tom's of Maine has many good flavors of toothpaste w/o fluoride).

I'm a dental assistant and patients ask us this question often. Does the community you live in have fluoride in the water? Most populated areas do....If so, you don't need to give him any extra, if not, consult your dentist as to the amount required. Remember though, if he recieves too much fluoride, his permanent teeth can come in stained. Also, swallowing toothpaste with fluoride can result in tummy aches. Continue to brush his teeth often (children's toothpaste) and always give him water to rinse the formula after a bottle. Also, baby Tylenol and sugar free popsicles are awesome for teething....hope this helps!

You could give floride drops, or go buy Nursery Water, it has floride. Also, regular tap water is safe too!! But either ways work just fine :)

I'm a dental hygiene student and what I have been taught that there is only a small benefit from receiving fluoride during tooth development. the majority of the benefit is after the permanent teeth are erupted to aid in remineralizing. During the first 3-4 years of your child's life the front permanent teeth are forming, there is a significant risk of giving your child too much fluoride and causing permanent brown stain and altered texture of these teeth. If you are concerned about you child not receiving fluoride I would recommend buying bottled water that contains fluoride or using tap water, they keep it at an optimal level to provide the needed benefits without being detrimental. on a related note you should be using toothpaste WITHOUT fluoride in it until he is able to spit it out adequately because swallowing it can also cause fluorosis and make him ill. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding your sons oral care, I will be more than happy to help.

I never used floride drops for my son, and we didn't start him on toothpaste with floride till a few months ago. He is 2 1/2 yrs old. The reason we chose to do this is because swallowing floride is not healthy, so until he learned to spit the toothpaste out instead of swallowing it we used baby toothpaste, which is floride free, and we still only use a tiny bit of the floride stuff. Also when they are babies like your son you can use the finger toothbrushes with the baby toothpaste and it's safe for them to swallow, they like the taste and it's quick and easy to use. Hope this helps

Hi. One day when my son was 2 he got a hold of a tube of toothpaste. He went along putting just a small glob in every one of my houseplants. The next day every one of my house plants were dead. Hmmmm.

My pediatrician told me to use nursery water. It already has the floride in it. AZ water is just not good, and some bottled water can be over purified. Even for adults. (there are some germs and bacteria that is good for you) I'm just not using tooth paste for my little one, and don't think I want to for awhile. The more I brush my own teeth the worse they seem to get with tooth paste. When I lived in IA I never had a problem. But now...

you know i have been doing research on this matter for a couple of months now and have found that giving floride doesn't help teeth if given orally and doesn't make any difference in your childs health, but if this isn't the answer you were looking for the best thing is to talk to your doctor about the pros and the cons of giving floride.

Since the public water supply has flouride in it, you normally wouldn't have to supplement, but since you're using bottled water, I would definetly ask your pediatrician for advice-they get this question all the time, and they'll be able to give you a straight answer.

Hi S.,

As a mom and a nurse its not advisable to give extra floride drops because there is already floride in the water (even bottled) so you would be giving him an extra dosage that is not nessary. Only childern who have all their teeth and are about 8 can brush with extra floride if they are at the dentist and recomended by the dentist or the doctors.

I hope that I helped......
R.

Hi S.,
Have you thought about using the infant water that has fluoride in it? I don't much about the drops, but use the water for my son.

Be aware that fluoride has been linked to bone cancer. I would never let a child swallow fluoride. I don't even use regular toothpaste on me or my kids. Only buy toothpaste without fluoride and without sodium lauryl sulfate. I have a line of bodycare products and one of the items we do is a toothpaste. For more info, contact me.

Fluoride drops have to be prescribed by his pediatrician. So check with his ped for questions. Regardless if it's in our water system or not, you shouldn't worry so much about it. My son is 3 and never had fluoride drops, used non-fluoride toothpaste until he was 2 and then we've had to try 3-4 different toothpastes to get to the one he likes. No bubblegum flavored. Just fruit flavored with fluoride. He uses a tiny pea size on his toothpaste and since he has a full set of teeth, brushes it and rinses his own brush. He does swallow some but by that time becareful with the extra foaminess because they can choke on that too.

Flouride is a poison, so no. Flouride was sold to us as a way to get rid of excess flouride. It should not be used in toothpaste, water or any other way as a supplement. On toothpaste, it says it is fatal if swallowed. Look up flouride poisoning for more info.

Hi S.!

My expereince with toothbrushing babies and toddlers is that they do not need the fluoride so much as older children or adults. That is why baby toothpaste and toddler toothpaste do not contain any fluoride in them. This is because children that age are more prone to swollwing the toothpaste and too much can cause fluorosis later on, which a is condition that causes white spots on teeth later on in life.