Toothpaste for children
These 3 products fail Ökotest
© Somkid Saowaros / Shutterstock
Which toothpaste is it safe to put your child in the bathroom? Ökotest knows the answer.
When it comes to child health, parents are naturally particularly prudent. Ökotest now took a closer look at various toothpastes for children up to six years of age: First the good news: Of the 35 toothpastes tested, Ökotest awarded the grade "Very Good" 15 times. The bad: three products were rated "Poor" or "Unsatisfactory."
What did Ökotest pay attention to?
It was not the appearance but above all the content that played a role in the test: Are there any ingredients that are harmful to health or the environment, how high is the fluoride content (for this controversial topic, Ökotest saw a "not too little, not too much" as ideal) , are there references to the fluoride content on the packaging?
Who are the winners?
15 toothpastes cracked the Ökotest jackpot and received a "very good" rating. Including:
- Bevola Dental Kids tooth gel (Kaufland), approx. € 00.30 per 50 ml
- Prokudent Kids Tooth Gel Strawberry Flavor (Rossmann), approx. € 00.33 per 50 ml
- Elmex children's toothpaste (Colgate-Palmolive), approx. € 1.95 per 50 ml
Who are the losers?
- Oral-B Baby sugar-free fluoride toothpaste, approx. € 1.33 per 50 ml ("insufficient")
- Oral-B Kids sugar-free fluoride toothpaste Frozen II, approx. € 1.33 per 50 ml ("insufficient")
- Blend-A-Med Blendi Gel strawberry flavor, approx. € 00.99 per 50 ml ("mangy")
Why did the toothpastes fail?
The toothpastes failed because questionable substances such as polyethylene glycols (PEG) were found, which can make the skin more permeable to foreign substances, and in some cases there was also no information that medical advice should be obtained in the event of additional fluoride intake. Background: Too much fluoride can cause fluorosis, i.e. white spots on the teeth, in children.
Two toothpastes were not among the losers, but were criticized nonetheless: "Tabaluga tooth gel for children with strawberry flavor" and "Logodent Happy Kids strawberry tooth gel" because they contain sugar.
Overall, however, Ökotest is satisfied with the toothpastes. "Unlike in the 2019 test, this time you have no problem with aluminum, antimony, lead, cadmium or zinc. The measured values of these elements were inconspicuous in the laboratory analysis," says the report.
Sources: Ökotest.de, RTL.de