Quantity of toothpaste applied by parents in each condition. There were wide ranges in parents' responses to the instructions to apply a "typical," "pea"-sized, and "smear" amount (Figure 1). The "typical" amount of toothpaste that parents demonstrated using at home weighed, on average, 0.33±0.24 g; the range was from 0.02 to 0.88 g (Table 2). A 1-sample / test was used to compare the mean weight applied when parents were instructed to apply a "pea"-sized amount compared to the recommended weight of 0.25 g. The mean quantity in response to the "pea" instruction was 0.30±0.21 g, which was greater but not significantly different than the recommended amount of 0.25 g (p=.1O). The weights
for the "pea" instruction ranged widely, from 0.05 to 1.09 g. A 1-sample / test was used to compare the mean weight applied when parents were instructed to apply a "smear" sized amount compared to the recommended weight of 0.125 g. The mean quantity applied
to the toothbrush in response to a "smear" was 0.21 ±0.19 g, which was significantly different than the recommended amount of 0.125 g (t [49]=3.35; P=.OO2). The weights for the "smear" instruction ranged from 0.004 g to 0.81 g