Healthy and strong teeth without caries: children can’t start this early enough with the brushing of teeth – at the best, as soon as the first milk teeth show, writes Öko-Test in a current test report. The auditors have taken 66 tooth-pastes for children under the magnifying glass – 47 pastes for milk teeth and 19 pastes for the first years after the change of teeth. In principle, nothing to speak then against the Adult’s toothpaste, writes Öko-Test. The Junior version be in comparison a little milder, the fluoride levels are similar.

The result: 38 pastes cut “very good” or “good”. The result could have been even better, recognised Öko-Test. Many manufacturers failed, however, to print the application instructions on the packs, “which are important for parents to protect your children age-appropriate from decay and provide it with adequate fluoride.”

Were tested in Children’s toothpastes with and without fluoride. Fluoride prevents tooth decay and is, therefore, indispensable, writes Öko-Test. Controversial, however, as the fluoride in the milk teeth. Dentists recommend a fluoride containing tooth pastes for Children, while children’s doctors discouraged them more. You would prefer instead, fluoride in the form of tablets: 0.25 milligrams per day in the first two years of life, and of 0.5 milligrams per-day, at the age of two to four years. It should, however, be with the doctor or the dentist, where fluoride may also be in other foods. Too much fluoride in the milk teeth age can lead to fluorosis, warn the testers. This teeth unansehliche white spots forming on the to stay.

In the current Test also fluoridd paste-free dental “very good” cut. Thus, Öko-Test, a different line than about the Foundation of the test, the abstraft these toothpastes, due to the lack of caries protection drives.

Öko-Test, however, increases the manufacturer’s responsibility: Provide fluoride-free toothpaste, you need to point out that fluoride must be fed to the child in a different way. Provider fluoride does not need to point out to pastes containing tooth in reverse to give additional fluoride without medical advice. This is to prevent the children take in too little or too much fluoride. The information is missing on about half of all Children’s toothpastes in the Test.

Many of the test winner – a few marker lights

Among the best Children’s toothpastes, the products of major brands such as Lidl or Aldi North and South. Test winner in the area of certified natural cosmetics are pastes two logo dent. They contain no fluoride.

Eleven children and three Junior toothpaste by the testers with “poor” or “unsatisfactory”. Most common points of criticism of PEG/PEG derivatives, which can make the skin more permeable to foreign substances, or sodium lauryl sulfate, which is considered to be a skin irritant.

Three pastes with harmful substances: The children’s dental cream of organic Spectra (Attitude Little Ones Toothpaste, Fluoride-Free, Strawberry) contains Cadmium, which is considered to be a carcinogen. The two toothpastes for milk teeth from Pure Beginnings contain lead and aluminum. The “Pure Beginnings Berry Toothpaste Fluoride Free” contains, in addition, Antomin. The detected pollutants, however, is only slightly above the values considered as technically unavoidable traces. Only the aluminum value is increased so that the weekly tolerable amount is exceeded by far.

Toothpaste for children dosing correctly – so it goes

The guideline “fluoridation measures for decay prevention” from the year 2013 recommends 500 ppm (milligrams per kilogram) fluoride for Children toothpaste, if fluoride-coated salt is used in cooking. Most of the manufacturers are, according to the Öko-Test in accordance with this specification. “Up to the second birthday, children should receive once daily a thin Film on the toothbrush and after the change of teeth twice daily with a pea-sized amount,” advises Öko-Test.

This information applies in specialist circles now obsolete. Probably at the earliest the end of 2019, a new guideline may seem, the new fluoride amounts and also a more frequent application is recommended: 1000 ppm instead of the usual 500 ppm of fluoride and for children up to second birthday twice a day a grain of rice sized amount. The requirements set out in 2013 so far are, however, valid.

The full review you can read for a fee here.