Fluoride

With fluoride, it is very Goldilocks—too little and you could be more prone to develop cavities as a kiddo, too much and you got teeth and bone staining or fluorosis. If you live in a city that has small amounts of fluoride in the water, you are golden for protecting teeth if you just have your little kiddo drink water from the tap, brush twice a day, and get some extra fluoride varnishes at the dentist's office twice a year. If your municipality does not put trace fluoride in the drinking water or you only drink bottled water or extremely purified water then your pediatrician may prescribe vitamin drops with trace fluoride to help get this healthy teeth balance.

I often get asked at what time should we start using a toothpaste with fluoride for our kiddos?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you can start using a “smear” of fluoride toothpaste up to twice a day once the very first tooth has appeared. But it’s not like the kiddos are off to the races with candy or gummies when that first tooth comes in. So it is still fine to use just baby toothpaste, or even just water, for the first few teeth as long as you are brushing off any milk or fruit sugars off the tooth/teeth before bedtime. Once there are enough teeth that they are touching each other, we should start using a good kids’ fluoride toothpaste to help protect between the teeth and gums.