gail dental question-human

[Roberta]

question My sister was told during dental week that is you are using flouride toothpaste could also be the one for sensitive teeth, that you don't rinse after brushing as you remove the coating.................but on the tube it says rinse. Could you shed light on it if possible
Roberta

[Gail]

Hi Roberta

There's been a fair bit of research done on whether you should rinse out after brushing and the results suggest that the most fluoride is kept in the mouth for a prolonged period if you simply spit out after brushing and don't fill your mouth with water and swoosh around afterwards. The clinical significance of this is that retaining more fluoride has an increased tooth decay protection that is significantly reduced if the toothpaste is washed away. This is all only relevant if you rinse out with water of course rather than a fluoride mouthrinse as this is even better for tooth decay prevention than just not rinsing with water. Studies have compared rinsing out using a cup of water, sticking your head under the tap, cupping water into your hand and slurping water off of your brush LOL - the reduction in fluoride retained in the mouth is in proportion to the amount of water your rinse with too so using a cup of water washes away more than the other methods.

There's always a balance between having adequate fluoride in the oral environment to give the best protection against tooth decay versus the risk of mild fluorosis of the enamel in very young children whose permanent teeth are still forming. (This is more of a concern where there is also fluoride in higher concentrations in the drinking water). After the age of around 7 then all of the enamel formation has been completed so fluorosis is no longer a concern.

Can you maybe just check what type of toothpaste this is in case it's unusual in any way. I can't really think of a reason a manufacturer would suggest rinsing afterwards unless they also manufacture mouth rinses or if they are worried about too much fluoride ingestion if it is a child's toothpaste?? Let me know some more if you can.

[Roberta]

Thanks Gail, we have tank only water here, so we don't have anyway of adding it. We do use a flouride mouthwash to. Our dentist had said the toothpaste alone would do the trick, but then when Jane told me about the don't rinse I just wondered. It makes sense the dilution effect.
Roberta