I said,,,,My Favorite Color is GREEN!

Here's the latest dental article that I wrote for the Japanese newspaper:

My Favorite Color is Green

When my daughter was around 2 years old, I decided it was time for her to get her own little plastic cup. She was beginning to want to eat on her own and I didn’t want her to break any of the cups we usually use at home.  Before the age of 2, everything she wore or ate was pretty much picked out by me. This would be a great time to see if she had an opinion of her own, I thought. Let’s see if she has a favorite color at this age.

The next time we were at the mall, we stopped by the Hello Kitty store.

I walked with her to where the little plastic cups were. There were all different colored cups; red, pink, light purple, light blue, green, yellow or white.

I let her look around a bit by herself.

“So… which one do you want?” I asked.

She walked over to the green Keropi frog cup.

 “Allison wants green”. She said.

I was puzzled. Little girls usually like pink or purple or red. What is wrong with my child?

“Are you sure you don’t want this Hello Kitty one? Look, it’s a really pretty RED color with Hello Kitty on it. It’s Mommy’s favorite color.”

“No, Allison wants green.” She repeated.

“Well, how about this one over here. Little Twin Stars is PINK and really cute!”

“No, Allison wants this one.” She said again, picking up the Keropi one.

“No pink or purple one? Look again, are you sure?” I asked.

“No, ALLISON wants GR-EEN”. She said loudly as if I didn’t understand her the other times.

I ended up getting her the green Keropi plastic cup that day and she walked out of the store proudly holding her own bag.

But a few days afterwards, just to check, when she was coloring, I asked her what her favorite color is again.

“Green.” She said quickly without thinking.

Alright... But I’m determined to get a “pink” or “purple” answer out of her anyway.

“What is your next favorite color?”

“Brown.” Without even looking up from what she’s doing.

“Ohhhh… well, what about after that?”

“Skin-colored.”  (WHAT?!)

After the third try, I gave up. Daughters, I’ll never understand them!

Choosing toothpaste is the same way. When you walk into a store and look around, there are so many different choices. Different brands, gel or paste, sensitive or extra whitening, ones to use only at night, baking soda, fluoride,etc…

When patients ask me what toothpaste they should use, unless they have a specific problem or issue, it’s very easy. If you have sensitive teeth, use a sensitive toothpaste. If you want to have fresher breath, use a stronger minty one and brush your tongue as well. If you’re loyal to a specific brand, use that one. For a patient that doesn’t have any special concerns, my recommendations are that it only needs to be one that contains fluoride (helps keep teeth strong) and it also needs to have the seal of the American Dental Association (ADA). The ADA runs tests and has specific guidelines for toothpastes. But besides those two, the most important criteria that’s needed for your toothpaste is that YOU must LIKE the taste. If you don’t like the taste of your toothpaste, you will not use it.  In the past, I’ve recommended a specific sensitive toothpaste to a patient and months later, the sensitivity issue was still there. I asked him if he was using the sensitive toothpaste. “No, because I didn’t like the taste”. Ah-ha!

So now, I don’t recommend a specific brand. Use a sensitive toothpaste, but you’ll have to see which taste you like.

Just like my daughter’s little green Keropi cup, if she likes it, she will use it. And if I ended up getting her a pink one instead, most likely, she won’t use it as much and end up lost around the house. So wouldn’t you guess,  10 years later, that little green plastic cup is faded and Keropi, the frog is a little bit scratched up but she still uses it!  If you like it, you’ll stick with using it longer.