P&G Agrees to Stop Deceptive Marketing of Crest Toothpaste to Kids

Procter & Gamble (P&G) will limit its deceptive marketing of Crest fluoride toothpaste to children, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday.

Under the terms of an agreement reached last month, P&G’s advertising of its children’s toothpaste to children under age 6 will reflect age-appropriate toothpaste amounts, beginning this month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and others recommend that children under age 3 use no more than a “smear” of fluoride toothpaste. Children ages 3 to 6 should use no more than a “pea-sized” amount.

Although that information is included in fine print on the toothpaste’s label, Crest’s marketing materials often show images of a toothbrush with a full strip of toothpaste, implying a full strip is the recommended quantity.

Research has shown that advertising and labeling tactics by toothpaste manufacturers prompt parents to use more toothpaste than is safe, leading children to overconsume toothpaste.

A 2024 study in Nature found that parents tend to overload toothbrushes by a factor of six to seven times the recommended amount.