Available fluoride in toothpastes used by Brazilian children.

Toothpastes should have a minimum concentration of 1000 ppm of fluoride (F) to control caries and also the active F agent must be chemically free (soluble) in the formulation. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of soluble F in dentifrices used by 206 Brazilian children. The concentrations of total fluoride (TF), total soluble fluoride (TSF) and fluoride ion were determined. From these analyses, the concentrations of F as sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP) and % of insoluble F were calculated. F was analyzed with an ion specific electrode in duplicates. The majority of dentifrices used (96%) contained F and in 84% of them, TF concentration was according to that declared by the manufacturers. In the F-toothpastes, 78% showed TSF concentration ≥ 1000 ppm, varying from 422.3 to 1432.3 ppm F (mean ± SD of 1017.6 ± 239.4). These findings suggest that most dentifrices used by Brazilian children present available fluoride concentration for caries control.