Those common oral health care "pitfalls" (I)

This is the 4763rd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

As people's demand for health care knowledge increases, the health science market is growing, but health rumors are often mixed in. In the next few issues, we will begin to list some common oral health rumors for you to prevent you from accidentally falling into the "trap".

Rumor 1: Children should never use fluoride toothpaste

Every child who grows up in a happy family is the future and hope of the family, and the center of the family. Therefore, parents will be very cautious about anything related to their children, fearing that they will make mistakes. Based on this, many children's products use "safety and non-toxicity" as a selling point.

Children's toothpaste is the most common type of children's health care product. Many businesses will advertise "fluoride-free, swallowable", and some health experts will also suggest that children should not use fluoride toothpaste. The reason seems to be very sufficient, that is, children may swallow fluoride toothpaste, and secondly, they are light in weight, so they are likely to suffer from fluoride poisoning.

However, the premise of poisoning is to eat toothpaste, and eat a lot of toothpaste. In fact, oral medicine experts have long thought of a solution to this problem, that is, on the one hand, the fluoride content is limited during the production process of toothpaste, and on the other hand, the amount of toothpaste is limited during the use of toothpaste. Therefore, as long as the toothpaste is produced and used in accordance with the regulations, it usually does not cause fluoride poisoning. If you refuse to use fluoride toothpaste because of concerns about fluoride poisoning, you may face the reality of your child's tooth decay.

Rumor 2: Rinsing your mouth with white vinegar can remove dental plaque

Dental calculus is calcified dental plaque and soft scale, which is essentially an alkaline substance with calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate as the main components. It seems very reasonable to neutralize and dissolve it with acetic acid.

However, teeth themselves are also easily corroded by acid. Generally speaking, the critical pH value for tooth enamel to be corroded by acid and cause decalcification is 4.5-5.5, while the pH value of white vinegar is 2.4, which is far below the critical pH value.

Therefore, when the dental plaque is large, hard, and closely attached to the tooth surface, it is doubtful whether gargling with vinegar can dissolve the dental plaque, but it will undoubtedly corrode the teeth. Therefore, this is undoubtedly a "killing 800 enemies and injuring 1,000 of your own", which is similar to the effect of "disinfecting banknotes with microwave ovens" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be honest, in clinical practice, some dental plaque is so tightly attached to the tooth surface that it is sometimes difficult to remove it with an ultrasonic dental cleaning machine, let alone a much weaker toothbrush. This is also the fundamental reason why once dental plaque grows, only dental cleaning measures can be taken. Many people often hope to brush it off even though they already have dental plaque. Brushing teeth can only prevent dental plaque, but cannot remove it.

Therefore, when you see any health care knowledge, you should carefully identify it. Otherwise, once you try it, it will really do more harm than good.

Author: Shanghai Health and Health Development Research Center

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