Don't swallow

As a parent I recently read that toothpaste is dangerous, and this concerned me.  Really dangerous.  A 3-year-old reportedly swallowed a pea-sized dollop of paste and later died in the ER.  The acidity of fluoride is too powerful, yet the makers know kids will use it more often if the flavour is like bubble gum.

It got me thinking then, if ulcers are so common, could it be due to the minute amounts of ingested toothpaste which slowly act on the mucosal lining of the stomach over years?  Not long ago a doctor astonished medical science by proving many stomach problems are due to a simple bacterium, H. Pylori.  The makers of proton-pump inhibitors keep much of the medical community in the dark still but I can happily report that after telling my physician straight up, give me the antibiotics, my heartburn is gone for good.

But if the picture is complicated by fluoride in toothpaste, beware... don't swallow even the littlest bit after brushing.  Rinse well!