The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of ingested fluoride and the fluoride dose to which children are subjected during toothbrushing with a conventional dentifrice (1500 ppmF) and a children's dentifrice with special flavor (1100 ppmF) and evaluate the influence of rinsing and expectoration after brushing. Six brushings followed by 6 residue collections (3 per dentifrice) were performed by 42 Brazilian children (aged 20 to 30 months). The concentration of fluoride in the residues and dentifrices was determined. The amount ingested was obtained by the difference principal. 64.3% of the children did not expectorate or rinse after brushing. For both toothpastes, no significant difference was found for fluoride doses comparing children that rinsed to those that did not rinse (p³ 0.05). When children's toothpaste was used, children who did not expectorate were exposed to a higher dose than those who did expectorate (p=0.032). The same was not observed when conventional toothpaste (p=0.081) was used. In conclusion, rinsing and expectoration after brushing had no influence on the dose of fluoride to which children were exposed by use of the dentifrices. However, expectoration was directly associated to the fluoride dose when the children's dentifrice was used.
fluoride; dentifrice; dental fluorosis; expectoration and rinsing
