Oral hygiene is impossible without brushing teeth. Nowadays the variety of teeth cleaning products can confuse you about what to choose and what to leave. Toothpaste is one such product present in almost every home.
No one can deny accidental swallowing of toothpaste as it is applied inside the mouth(oral cavity). When kids brush their teeth, they love tasting new things. Most of them deliberately don’t spit after brushing just to taste the flavor of toothpaste.
If you want to know the side effects of swallowing, eating, and engulfing toothpaste, you’re at the right place.
What happens if you swallow toothpaste? Nothing bad will happen if the amount of toothpaste is less than 5 grams or pea-size. If the swallowed amount is 5 to 10 grams, it can cause stomach pain, gastrointestinal infection, diarrhea, and vomiting. The fluoride in the tube can spike the normal level of fluoride in blood and it’s very harmful.
Some people don’t show symptoms while others or especially kids vomit and suffer from diarrhea. With age and individual health conditions, the side effects or symptoms may vary. So it is important to use a large amount of water during spitting after brushing your teeth.
What Is Toothpaste & Ingredient In It
Toothpaste is a teeth cleaning product. It is recommended to use daily for dental hygiene. It keeps teeth safe from cavities. If you don’t clean your teeth daily, they are likely to catch cavities too early.
If you want to know the ingredients of toothpaste, your knowledge of chemistry counts a lot.
There are two types of toothpaste:
In natural toothpaste, no toxic cleaning agent is used. It is 100% safe if ingested. However synthetic toothpaste use cleaning agents listed below:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Fluoride
- Sodium Floride
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Sodium pyrophosphate
- Propylene glycol
- Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate
- Sodium saccharin
- Desensitizing ingredients
- Triclosan
Sodium fluoride is FDA approved non-toxic product. However, Flouride is toxic and should be used in minimal amounts.
What Happens If You Swallow Toothpaste While Brushing Teeth: 5 Strange Happenings
It is very common to ingest a small amount of toothpaste when brushing teeth. No need to worry as a small amount is completely safe. Some toothpaste is sticky and may not leave the tooth surface easily if not washed with water. Mostly kids are careless and they don’t spit toothpaste after brushing.
This makes mothers anxious to know the answer: What happens if you swallow toothpaste while brushing? There are some possible happening after swallowing toothpaste. First, you may show no symptoms at all as the swallowed amount is low. If you swallow a large amount every day it can cause gastrointestinal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and even convulsions.
Below are Five possible happenings of swallowing toothpaste:
#1- No Symptoms at All
The most common happening after swallowing toothpaste is that you will not show any symptoms. It means you have swallowed a small amount and your toothpaste does not contain any toxic cleaning agent or fluoride.
#2- Vomiting
This happens mostly in kids after devouring too much toothpaste. The reason is that your toothpaste is rich in sodium fluoride or fluoride. People with sensitive stomachs will vomit after having this.
#3- Diarrhea
In a few cases, you may have diarrhea. This happens when fluoride in your paste blocks the intestine. It will result in belly pain, diarrhea, or stomach pain. It also depends on the health condition of the person swallowing toothpaste and how frequently it is swallowed.
#4- Bad Taste In Mouth
Many people feel the constant change in mouth taste after swallowing toothpaste. The reason is the flavor of the toothpaste. Nowadays manufacturers add artificial flavors to decrease the taste of fluoride which is the basic ingredient of toothpaste.
#5- Shock, Convulsion, Or Drooling
If the fluoride in blood level spikes, it may cause convulsions, drooling, and shock. In case of some underlying health condition swallowing Flouride is extremely harmful. The side effects vary from person to person.
What Happens If You Swallow Toothpaste Once
Dental hygiene is an important part of personal hygiene. Without using toothpaste daily, it is impossible to clean teeth. The possibility of accidental swallowing of dentifrice is very high. Many people ask if I accidentally swallow toothpaste once what is going to happen to me.
Nothing bad will happen if you engulf it once in life. A small amount is bearable. The cleaning agents in toothpaste mostly contain fluoride. Although it’s toxic yet safe if consumed once or less frequently.
What Happens If You Swallow Toothpaste Everyday
It is often observed that kids love the yummy taste of flavored toothpaste. Instead of spitting it out after brush, they love eating it. If your kid is doing the same you should know the answer.
What happens if you swallow toothpaste every day? Swallowing toothpaste daily hurts because too much fluoride can block your intestines. The ultimate results will be gastrointestinal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. However, some people show symptoms early while others show late.
What Happens If You Swallow Toothpaste While Pregnant
The main ingredient of toothpaste is fluoride or Sodium Flouride. During pregnancy, the mother has to think about the health of herself as well as her fetus. Fluoride levels in blood and Urine should not exceed 7 mg/L or 0.6mg/L respectively. During pregnancy maintaining fluoride levels in blood and Urine is crucial.
What happens if you swallow toothpaste while pregnant? Nothing bad will happen if the amount is benign or equal to the size of a pea. However, too much toothpaste swallowing in pregnancy can increase the level of fluoride in Urine and Blood. This may cause serious problems in the fetus.
What Happens If You Swallow Toothpaste Foam
Toothpaste foam is a mixture of paste and water. Just like the foam of a cleaning agent, it should be pushed out of the mouth. Experts recommend you spit 3 to 4 times after brushing your teeth. Kids often don’t care to spit the foam out of their mouths properly.
What happens if you swallow toothpaste foam? Nothing bad will happen if the foam is in a small amount. However, swallowing a large amount can cause gastrointestinal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.
For kids, it’s a better option to buy fluoride-free toothpaste until they learn to spit properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Toothpaste Harmful If Swallowed?
It depends on how much you swallow. If you swallow too little an amount once or less frequently, it is OK and completely safe. The problem arises when you ingest a large amount daily. In this case, it can cause gastrointestinal pain, infection, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The side effects of ingesting toothpaste vary from person to person. Kids and pregnant women are more sensitive to the side effects of ingesting it.
How Much Toothpaste is Harmful to Swallow?
Ingesting a benign amount of pea-size accidentally is safe. However, if you swallow 5 to 10 grams it would be harmful. It can increase fluoride levels in your blood and urine. It can also cause stomach pain, intestinal blockage, and diarrhea.
Whether low or high the amount, it’s advisable to spit it after brushing. It’s an uneatable product but made for oral use. SO, its ingestion is possible.
What Happens If a Kid Swallows Toothpaste?
In hospitals doctors daily deal with cases in which kids eat toothpaste. Toddlers often love the taste and flavor of toothpaste. The fluoride itself is a tasty agent and cooling agent. Some kids even develop the habit of eating it when they are away from their mother’s eyes.
If kids have swallowed too much toothpaste, it would cause pain in the stomach. They would vomit or suffer from diarrhea.
However, if the amount is too low, nothing bad will happen. It is observed that allergic kids show symptoms too early as compared to healthy kids.
Conclusion
If you don’t care about swallowing toothpaste, you should be cautious. It’s OK to consume a small amount accidentally, but it’s unsafe to swallow too much. So, make sure you wash your oral cavity properly after brushing your teeth.
Try to buy toothpaste made up of natural products. Always read the label carefully. IF it contains too many chemicals, leave it.
Sometimes extra fluoride can damage adult teeth quickly. Ask your dentist to recommend a toothpaste for you.
