Fluoride or no fluoride?

chigirlinaz

I currently have the baby orajel tooth and gum cleanser which is fluoride free.  I was looking at the Tom's of Maine kiddy toothpaste today and they had both fluoride and fluoride free.  Because I'm too lazy right now to research this myself, I figured that I would rely on you fine ladies to school me.  

CABunny

Good question - I'll be interested in responses.

I give C toothpaste w/o fluoride because he doesn't spit yet.  J has both fluoridated & non-fluoridated that we alternate.  We have fluoridated tap water so I'm not sure how necessary fluoridated toothpaste really is.

hav2run

Stick with the Orajel or the fluoride free stuff until they are able to spit out all of the toothpaste...closer to three years.  Too much fluoride in the mouth causes fluorosis which makes the teeth weak and stained.  Building the habit is a good thing now, fluoride is not. 

papagena

Ditto pp - do the fluoride free until they get good at spitting out the toothpaste.  Too much fluoride is a bad thing, and you ingest plenty in our drinking water.