You Don’t Need to Use As Much Toothpaste
The perfect smear of toothpaste you see on a toothpaste box and all this ad is misleading. This is much more than adults need and too much for children. In fact, a pea-sized amount is all you have to use to get the job done (and squeeze more out of the tube).
Many of us could squeeze a little less toothpaste onto our toothbrushes. Dr. Sherrill Watson-Lowry, a doctor of dental surgery practicing in Chicago, tells Dentistry.com that we just need to apply a small pea-sized piece of toothpaste or a very thin layer of toothpaste that runs along the toothbrush and is called a nirdle. … Besides, this is one of those cases when more is not better. In fact, using too much toothpaste results in a condition called fluorosis , where teeth change color or appear spotty.
Dr. Watson-Lowry also advises parents to apply toothpaste to their children, as young children may have trouble spitting out excess foam and end up swallowing excess fluoride that they don’t need. Plus, toothpaste isn’t the only thing we tend to use too much; we could use less mouthwash, dishwasher soap and detergent .
How much toothpaste is too much? | Dentistry.com