Many opt for expensive children’s brands assuming they contain less fluoride and are therefore safer
Parents can pay more than twice as much for kids’ toothpastes that do the same job as adults’.
Many opt for expensive children’s brands assuming they contain less fluoride and are therefore safer.
But the Sunday People found nearly all kids’ pastes have as much fluoride as adult brands – yet always cost more.
Tesco Steps Mild Mint for three to five years costs £1 for a 75ml tube containing 1,450 fluoride parts per million. But adult version Fresh Mint – containing exactly the same amount of the active ingredient – costs 50p for 100ml.
Other brands failed to contain recommended levels of fluoride, which is crucial for healthy teeth.
Tesco Steps mild mint (3-5 years), 75ml, 1450ppm, £1, £1.34 per 100ml
These include Boots Kids Mild Mint for zero to two years – with 500ppm, while the Department of Health recommends children up to three use a paste with 1,000ppm.
Lidl’s Dentalux Sweet Mint for zero to five years also has 1,000ppm – failing under guidelines for children above three. Its Dentalux Sweet Mint for six and above has 1,450ppm in a 100ml tube for 69p – yet the adult 125ml with the same fluoride is 50p.
The findings come as it emerges a quarter of five-year-olds have tooth decay.Nicola Innes, professor of paediatric dentistry at the University of Dundee, said: “Untreated tooth decay in children is the most prevalent condition in the world.
Boots Kids mild mint (0-2 years) 500ppm 50ml Boots £1, £2 per 100ml
“Toothpaste manufacturers have long marketed brands aimed at children. Many are often more expensive than standard adult brands But look beyond the colourful packaging and often they’re selling little of extra value.”
Boots said: “We are reformulating this product to increase the fluoride level to 1,000ppm from October, in line with guidelines.”
Tesco said: “The volume of this product produced is lower than our adult paste, which explains the difference in price.”
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*Original article online at https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/417-parents-pay-more-twice-12522074