Choosing the Right Toothpaste
As consumers, we’re influenced by all the dollars spent on advertising. As for toothpaste, all the advertising is focused on pushing gum care toothpaste to prevent gum disease, whitening pastes to give you whiter teeth and of course, tartar control toothpaste. As consumers, do we really know the difference? Well, let’s find out!
Tartar control toothpaste is used to help prevent the accumulation of tartar. Unfortunately, studies do not show that these pastes actually remove tartar.
The build up of tartar below the gum line is one of the main reasons why gum disease is developed. These tartar pastes do not reduce tartar below the gums, which is a problem. The best way to solve this problem is by visiting your dentist 2x per year to remove the build up. Many companies are working on a solution for this.
We all wonder which are more effective as toothpastes; gels or pastes. Oddly enough, gels are more abrasive due to a substance included in them called silica. Silica is similar to sand like substance. Both gels and pastes are effective cleaners, so this is just based on preference.
Stannous fluorides are used in gum care pastes, while most pastes use sodium fluoride. Sodium does a much better job at protecting against cavities, so there’s a bit of a concern regarding gum care pastes.
We’ve all probably tried toothpaste with baking soda and thought it was much more effective. However, there’s no proven results showing it’s better than other pastes. Many people tend to brush longer, since it has a flavor, which helps. Baking soda pastes often include peroxides which can be harmful. Canada has banned these products that include peroxide in them.
Another abrasive paste is whitening pastes. Since they’re so abrasive, it’s not recommended to use this as your sole toothpaste. It can be worked into your routine and used every other day or so. If it includes sodium pyrophosphate, then it’s extremely abrasive.
I hope this has helped you understand the products we’re using to clean our teeth on a daily basis. Since we only get one set of teeth, it’s imperative we take great care of them!
