Mascarenhas states that “children under the age of 6 years can swallow up to 25-33% of the fluoride toothpaste used at each brushing because their swallowing reflex is not fully developed.” In our survey, 40.5% of parents responded by saying, sometimes their
child swallows the toothpaste. A full 59.6% claimed that their child always spits out the toothpaste used, and another 31.5% of the children sometimes spit out their toothpaste.