What hidden dangers lie in toothpastes?
What hidden dangers lie in toothpastes?
by Angela Mdlalani
19-09-2010
Although we don’t swallow it, not intentionally at least, we do trust toothpaste, don’t we? We rely on it for dazzling smiles.
But the paste we have come to trust as offering us better oral hygiene and preventing tooth decay may be more dangerous than we care to notice.
The Internet is awash with claims that some of the dental hygiene products widely used by families today contain toxins that have, among others, been linked to cancer and blindness.
It is accepted that toothpaste should not be swallowed, hence the need to monitor youngsters when they are brushing their teeth.
Doctor Itumeleng Kalane, a General Dental Practitioner at the Dental Clinic in Gaborone, says that children should not use toothpaste before their second birthday.
Fluorosis, Dr Kalane said, is a researched and documented effect of excessive toothpaste swallowing.
“This is a discolouration of the tooth enamel from exposure to excessive fluoride during enamel formation, particularly during the maturation phase,” said Dr Kalane. “Toothpaste swallowing is usually associated with a mild form of this condition, which presents as white flecks or spotting. In other cases the enamel assumes a diffuse cloudiness in colour. This problem is a concern, especially in children below 2 years of age as they tend to swallow significant amounts of toothpaste during brushing.”
He said that it is around this time that the enamel matrix of the permanent incisors in the tooth crypt matures, and any incorporation of fluoride during this time leads to esthetic impairment when they eventually erupt.
However, it is claimed that many of these toxins need not be swallowed to cause harm to the human body because the potentially harmful ingredients are made up of very small molecules that may penetrate through the tissue of your mouth to enter the blood stream and build up in the liver, kidneys, heart lungs and body tissues...........
by Angela Mdlalani
19-09-2010
Although we don’t swallow it, not intentionally at least, we do trust toothpaste, don’t we? We rely on it for dazzling smiles.
But the paste we have come to trust as offering us better oral hygiene and preventing tooth decay may be more dangerous than we care to notice.
The Internet is awash with claims that some of the dental hygiene products widely used by families today contain toxins that have, among others, been linked to cancer and blindness.
It is accepted that toothpaste should not be swallowed, hence the need to monitor youngsters when they are brushing their teeth.
Doctor Itumeleng Kalane, a General Dental Practitioner at the Dental Clinic in Gaborone, says that children should not use toothpaste before their second birthday.
Fluorosis, Dr Kalane said, is a researched and documented effect of excessive toothpaste swallowing.
“This is a discolouration of the tooth enamel from exposure to excessive fluoride during enamel formation, particularly during the maturation phase,” said Dr Kalane. “Toothpaste swallowing is usually associated with a mild form of this condition, which presents as white flecks or spotting. In other cases the enamel assumes a diffuse cloudiness in colour. This problem is a concern, especially in children below 2 years of age as they tend to swallow significant amounts of toothpaste during brushing.”
He said that it is around this time that the enamel matrix of the permanent incisors in the tooth crypt matures, and any incorporation of fluoride during this time leads to esthetic impairment when they eventually erupt.
However, it is claimed that many of these toxins need not be swallowed to cause harm to the human body because the potentially harmful ingredients are made up of very small molecules that may penetrate through the tissue of your mouth to enter the blood stream and build up in the liver, kidneys, heart lungs and body tissues...........
posted by Bill at
9:46 AM
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