Understanding What’s In Your Toothpaste: A Brief Guide

You brush your teeth twice a day. If you’re doing it right, you probably spend around 12 hours daily keeping your smile fresh. That amounts to well over a month of brushing throughout your entire life. That’s a lot of time. But are you getting the full benefit of your time spent at the bathroom sink?

Assuming you maintain a solid twice-daily routine, three key things could harm your oral hygiene: your brushing technique, the type of toothbrush used, and the type of toothpaste you’re using. 

When you scan the shelves of the supermarket or pharmacy, you’ll notice dozens of types of toothpaste to choose from. Often, our choice is governed by price or whether it’s a brand that’s known to us. But what exactly makes toothpaste good?

Let’s discuss which type of toothpaste is best for you. 

What’s In Your Toothpaste?

Beyond the brand names you know, the fancy packaging, and the claim that dentists recommend their product, the most important aspect of any toothpaste is what’s inside it. 

Every toothpaste has a mixture of active and inactive ingredients. The active ingredients work at preventing tooth decay, while the inactive ones are more about making the taste, texture, and colour more palatable. 

Fluoride is the most important ingredient in toothpaste. This naturally occurring mineral is not only found in toothpaste, but it’s also commonly added to drinking water and food. It serves to strengthen tooth enamel and prevent cavities. 

It’s recommended that you choose a toothpaste that has at least 1,350 parts per million (ppm) fluoride. 

Toothpaste will often contain mild abrasive ingredients such as calcium carbonate. These inactive ingredients don’t ward off tooth decay in the same way as fluoride. Instead, abrasives remove stains. 

Maintaining the consistency of the toothpaste is important, as it could dry up in the tube. To manage this, humectants are used. Common ingredients include glycol, glycerine, and glycerol.

Many people like their toothpaste to foam up. To achieve this, detergents are used. One commonly used is sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS).

Some people avoid SLS products due to concerns that they irritate. This might be a particular issue if you’re prone to mouth ulcers. There are lots of great SLS-free toothpastes on the market. 

To make your toothpaste taste good, sweeteners and flavouring are used. When sweetening toothpaste, there could be a danger that the ingredients used could counteract the good work done by the fluoride. Saccharin or sorbitol are often used as these provide flavour without contributing to decay.

What’s the Best Toothpaste for Children?

Choosing the right toothpaste for your child is vital. It’s important to get your child into good oral health habits from a very young age. The most important aspect of children’s toothpaste is the fluoride levels. Ideally, look for toothpaste that has 1,350 ppm fluoride. 

Younger children under three without tooth decay can use fluoride toothpaste with 1,000 ppm. 

Does Whitening Toothpaste Work?

Whitening toothpaste uses a combination of abrasive ingredients to remove surface stains from your teeth. Ingredients like activated charcoal and bicarbonate of soda can lift slight staining, but overuse could weaken your enamel in the long term. 

Another ingredient found in whitening toothpaste is blue covarine. This blue ingredient coats your teeth, giving them a bright white appearance. Although useful for short-term use, no-whitening toothpaste is a match for professional teeth whitening with a dentist. 

Professional Dental Care at Harley Private Dental

We want the best for your teeth. That’s why our dentists and dental hygienists are here to give you the advice you need to make the right choices regarding your oral health. 

Book an appointment today, and let us help you fight decay and keep smiling.

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