Seeking Help to Get My Child to Spit When Brushing Teeth-needs Floride

Updated on April 13, 2008
J.K. asks from Apex, NC
26 answers

My daughter is 21/2 and doesn't mind brushing her teeth (with help from me) because the toothpaste is flavored like a sweet treat. Well she needs to learn to spit it out because I need her to use floride toothpaste (which can't be swallowed) and I am having trouble since her current toothpaste is so "tasty". Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

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S.B.

answers from Greensboro on

My daughter is nearly 3.5 years old and still cannot spit out toothpaste, even when she wants to. She can't seem to gather the spit at the front of her mouth, because as soon as she closes her mouth, she swallows. My next idea is to try to have her learn using watermelon seeds. I hope you are successful.

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K.W.

answers from Charlotte on

I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and we let her pick out some of those little dixie cups from the store to keep in the bathroom especially for brushing her teeth. We make it a big event to rinse with the cup and water after brushing like a "big" girl.

Maybe that may work for you!

K.C.

answers from Nashville on

J.,
My daughter 23 months and what I do is brush my teeth at the same time. I sing a silly song and we make a big game of it. I make a big display of spitting into the sink, and she thinks it is hilarious and can't wait to mimick me. Get a step stool if you haven't already and let her stand next to you. She also loves rinsing her mouth when I do it this way, and has a blast. Now she asks to brush her teeth as soon as we get into the bathroom. Hope this helps.
-K.

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S.M.

answers from Memphis on

I wouldn't worry about it too much... all 3 of mine did this and it never hurt them - they're all now adults. The amount of toothpaste used is not enough to cause a problem. Keep in mind also that ingesting a small amount of fluoride can actually be GOOD for her developing teeth. Just continue to demonstrate to her the correct way to brush her teeth and pretty soon you'll be concerned that she is spitting out the toothpaste before it can do any good.

There is ALL kinds of alarmist information out there - don't let it scare you and pick carefully at it. Just be sensible and feed your children a good diet with lots of fruit and vegetables - never assume your child won't like something. At that tender age, if she sees YOU eating it SHE will likely want it too. This more than anything is going to help her teeth and overall health.

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A.S.

answers from Greenville on

J.,
Continue to let the child brush but put very little on the toothbrush then go behind her with a warm washcloth and put a little toothpaste on it and rub them well. It will help to have the flouride to stay on her teeth and will not be too toxic. She definitely needs the flouride, a child can get cavities as soon as they have teeth. As she gets older she will get the hang of it.
A. - Mom of 2 teens

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S.M.

answers from Greensboro on

J., I have been in dentistry for 8 years now. That is wonderful that your daughter is brushing her own teeth, however, please,please make sure you are going behind her and brushing like your daughter has never brushed them to start with. When children are that young, they don't know the proper technique to brushing and they don't know all the surfaces of the teeth to make sure to get brushed. If you daughter has not learned to spit, there are products on the market that are fluride free and she can practice spitting because the fluride-free toothpaste bubbles up like the regular toothpaste. Until then you can give her water that has fluride it in, like city water or fluride drops prescribe my your ped. The effects of too much fluride swallowed can be harmful and can damage of the perm. teeth, like hypocacification or modeling of the teeth, it would appear like really white spots or dark spots of the teeth and only having cosmetics done would correct this which is VERY expensive. Another thing that I did with my son is I gave him some water and we went outside and just spit it out and he had it down in no time. If your daughter can already kinda brush her teeth, spitting should come very easy for her....Good Luck!! ps don't forget to floss
S.

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K.P.

answers from Memphis on

Orajel makes a couple of flavors of fluoride-free toothpaste. It has Little Bear on the box. I can get it at Walmart.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

.

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T.

answers from Chattanooga on

Have her practice spitting out her current toothpaste. You could also show her how to rinse and spit water. Good luck.

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K.W.

answers from Asheville on

My daughter didn't learn how to swish and spit until she was 3. No need to rush her, she doesn't need the floride from toothpaste right now as long as she's getting it from other sources (like tap water or other floride rich drinks). When you get ready to switch, just let her know that she's going to be using big girl toothpaste and she can't swallow it. They make cool tubes and great flavors. I used a tiny speck at first, so it really didn't make a difference if my daughter swallowed it. Once she got used to it we started practicing swish and spit and now she's a pro!! Good luck!!

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B.F.

answers from Greensboro on

I did this with my son. I used just a little amount of my toohpaste until he learned to spit they dont like the minty tatse so it helps them want to spit. I still to this day tell him it a don't see him spiting I will take his tooth paste away until he starts back spiting. He is four now and he has been brushing his teeth since before he turn two starting young helps so much. He had twenty teeth at one year so and we brush his teeth the first year with and without tooth paste. I also brush them after he does and I floss them. We have a good friend that became a denist and is our dentist he also sends a goody bag home with me when I go to the denist. My son also had to go to the denist before his was two because to Doctor told me she tought a tooth of his was not right. It had five points instead of four and our denist said it was fine he just had more to chew with. So before two years old we had made it a game to play denist this is the best thing we came up with because he wants to go to the denist. Also a lot of denist do a Happy visit it does not cost anything just to show the kids what they do so they can learn and not be scared.
Good Luck!
B.
married full time working mother of 4yr old son and 5 month old daughter.

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B.M.

answers from Johnson City on

She is too young to be using floride toothpaste, because she is too young to understand the concept of spitting it out. If you are not using a floridated water source, then purchase some floride drops that you can administer to her in the correct amount. Stick to using training toothpaste and dont switch until she is *ready* to spit it out.

My daughter just turned three and is not able to grasp this concept yet. She can brush her teeth and mimic trying to spit, but for now toothpaste is yummy and that concept is far easier to understand to a toddler, than spitting it back out.

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R.G.

answers from Greensboro on

J..........I have a 4 yearold girl.She never spit out till she was 4years old.Well it was a costly mistake.The dentist kept saying not till shes 5.Well nov was here 6 months check and it cost the poor child 7 cavities.We had to get the fillings done at the hospital they had to put her out to do the fillings.So all I can let you know is just keep practiceing make spiting a game.When she gets older she will grow out of spiting things but its better to work with her now.I just wished I would of went with how I felt other then listening to the dentist.She just had her 6 months check after the fillings and so far so good.Good Luck.R. g

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E.M.

answers from Louisville on

why does she have to use the one with fluoride. i think most dentists say its ok to use toddler tooth past until they are old enough to learn to spit. my dentist said brushing is best but you can even just use a wet cloth so i wouldnt stress just stick with the kids stuff she will get it!

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L.B.

answers from Nashville on

My son is off sugar, so we use Tom's natural toothpaste. It has flouride. It is called "silly strawberry" since it is for kids, but believe me, it is not sweet at all. I bought it at Walgreen's drug store (we live in Nashville, TN)but they also sell it on amazon. Good luck

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T.L.

answers from Knoxville on

Hi! I am a dental hygienist practicing in West Knoxville. If your water supply doesn't contain fluoride, you should speak with your pediatrician about fluoride supplements. Otherwise, children under 4 should not use fluoride toothpaste unless they are very, very good spitters! She will get enough systemic fluoride from water and food sources. Too much ingested fluoride can be toxic (but that requires HUGE doses) but, mainly, we are concerned about dental hyperfluorosis. That is permanent white spots on their permanent teeth from too much ingested fluoride.

Hope this helps!

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M.E.

answers from Lexington on

unles your ped or dentist has said to switch to flouride toothpast, then i'd stick with the flouride free kind. there is enough flouride in tap water that she should be getting plenty as long as she's drinking. too much can casue white spots to stain the teeth. 2 1/2 i think it still too young for kids to master spitting yet. so i'd hold of on switching for now. jsut be glad she lets you brush her teeth...it's a major struggle with a lot of kids.

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D.P.

answers from Chattanooga on

I'd do some investigating. We use a flouride-free tooth paste (Tom's of Maine). There's flouride in our tap water in Chattanooga. Bottled water is sometimes blamed for the decline in our children's teeth. Some folks say flouride is poison. In between the extremes is usually where the truth lies.
I've always heard that the amount you use on a toothbrush is ok if swallowed.
If you are concerned, ask your doctor about flouride vitamins or drops and switch to a flouride-free toothpaste.
From what I've read and know, it seems toothpaste isn't the only medium for flouride to benefit your child.
Still it's confusing to me that you can't swallow the toothpaste because of the flouride but it's put into our water supplies...I imagine it's the amount/levels/strength of the mixtures. Curious.

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T.F.

answers from Charlotte on

Try letting her keep the toothpaste and sdd a flouride rinse aqfter brushing. My kiddies love it. There is a brand that has a light up cap that is set for 30 seconds so they know how long to swish before spititng. This may be somehting she is willing to do instead of giving up the yummy toothpaste.

Ask your dentist/ family doctor if this would be an acceptable alturnative to the flouride toothpaste first though.

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D.T.

answers from Raleigh on

J.,
Keep in mind that almost all water is fluoridated, so getting the fluoride toothpaste is not nearly an issue as it used to be when we were kids. Has the dentist said that she needs the fluoridated toothpaste? I don't think we started with that toothpaste until after my daughter was at least 3 1/2. She's now 4 1/2, and the spitting is not an issue; we did have the same problem for awhile, but honestly, the small amount that they would be swallowing is so insignificant, that you don't need to worry.

The real question is whether you really need to start with the fluoridated toothpaste. Unless the dentist has instructed you to use it, I would stick with the toddler stuff until she learns to spit--it won't be long, believe me!!

Good luck.
D.

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M.T.

answers from Raleigh on

As long as your child drinks tap water and gets a flouride treatment when she goes to the dentist, don't worry too much about switching to regular toothpaste yet. However, you still need to get her on track at some point, and the flouride-free toothpastes are pretty tasty to kids. I've found that my kids suck and eat that toothpaste, and there's really nothing to swallow. But using a mechanical brush like the Crest Spinbrush creates more foam in the mouth and my kids feel like they actually need to spit. Regular toothpaste creates more foam than the other though, so you may just want to hold off until she's closer to three and get her a mechanical toothbrush and just a touch of regular toothpaste. My two year old uses the flouride-free paste right now, but he goes through the spitting motions because he sees his big brother do it even though he really has nothing to spit. Try brushing your teeth along with your daughter and take turns spitting. Turn it into a game or make up a song so she'll get the idea that spitting is just part of the process. Good luck!

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L.A.

answers from Lexington on

http://www.fluoridealert.org/50-reasons.htm

please read this website. my family's teeth have been better since we all stopped using fluoride toothpaste.

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T.G.

answers from Raleigh on

Hi J.,

Fluoride is a HIGHLY toxic substance and children should NOT brush with it.
Anything that goes into the mouth regardless of whether you spit or not is absorbed into the blood stream. Google fluoride and see the MANY websites that talk about the ill effects this poison has in our bodies. Go to LeBleu Water's website. You will see all the toxins they REMOVE from their water - Fluoride is on the list!

Cavities are NOT caused by a lack of fluoride. They are caused by poor nutrition, too much candy and soda, and improper brushing. I have 4 children. None of them use fluoride and none have any cavities. They do however take vitamin and mineral supplements and they don't eat a lot of junk - and only have soda at B-Day parties not daily like most children today.

Parents are being lied to and because they TRUST doctors and dentists with their children's health they are falling for the lies. Do your research. The evidence is out there. Fluoridation chemicals are WASTE by-products of the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum industries. Fluoride is so toxic the fertilizer and aluminum industries are not allowed to dump it without serious fines so they sell it to unsuspecting buyers. It is pure poison! Sodium Fluoride is also registered with the EPA as a rat poison. Fluoride bio-accumulates in the body. My great-grandma lived to be 99. She died with every tooth in her head, nobody gave her fluoride toothpaste or fluoride drops. She also didn't eat processed food from boxes and cans. She did NOT have Alzheimers like most elder American's of today. By the way, Alzheimer's is linked to aluminum - of which Fluoride is a waste product.

Think about it... there is a reason why we are losing our minds in our old age unlike our great grandparents and those before them who's bodies gave out long before their brains ever did. Being poisoned from infancy on with NEURO TOXINS plays a huge role in our mental capacity later in life.

But please don't believe me. See for yourself. There are hundreds of "Scientific Studies" to back up what I'm saying. Here's a start...http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_fluoridefacts.html

Be Well, T.

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A.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

Colgate for Kids watermelon flavor is tasty and has flouride.

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R.S.

answers from Charlotte on

I just wanted to tell you not to be too concerned about the swallowing of the floride. My best friends daughter ate a lot of toothpaste one day and so she called poison control and they told her that it would take a whole lot of toothpaste to actually make her very sick. With the small amount of toothpaste that you will use on the little toothbrush, I don't think your child will be harmed. That being said, my children, almost 4 and 6, both learned how to spit over time. I had to actually show them. They spent a lot of time watching me brush my teeth to help in the understanding the process. Good luck!

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T.A.

answers from Rocky Mount on

Are u serious? She is only 2 1/2 and you think its okay for her to start using floride toothpaste. No because the doctor will apply what she needs to her teeth until she turns 4 which is old enough to go to the dentist. Do push growing up so fast? Take ur time. She will learn to spit when she is at least 3 and can undertand the concept. Let her enjoy the learning experience. At least she lets u help. My daughter is very independent and i can't even get her to let me help with somethings because basically she can do it herself. So enjoy the time you get to spend talking to her in the mirror while she brushes her teeth. Let her watch u brush your. Children follow by example.

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