Choosing Which Toothpaste You Should Buy

Every day, people ask dentists what toothpaste they recommend.  Today, there are more options than ever.  Toothpaste manufacturers provide so many kinds of toothpaste for two reasons.  First, people have different dental problems and benefit from different toothpastes.  Another reason is marketing; more kinds of toothpaste mean more shelf space for that manufacturer.  Colgate (www.colgate.com) lists over 60 different kinds of over the counter toothpaste.   All that toothpaste creates a big billboard right inside the local grocery store.  That makes Colgate products much easier to find than Biotene which produces only two kinds of toothpaste.

The dentist will ask you what you need toothpaste for.  People who use toothpaste clean their teeth by brushing and flossing them.  The mechanical action of the brush and floss loosens plaque.  Plaque is the bacterial coating that forms on teeth and causes gum disease and cavities.  Rinsing with water washes the loose plaque away.  Toothpaste must provide an addition benefit.

Procter and Gamble (www.crest.com) introduced fluoridated toothpaste with Crest in 1955.  Now, most toothpaste contains fluoride. Fluoride from toothpaste seeps into the surface of teeth making them more resistant to decay.  People who use toothpaste with fluoride get fewer cavities than those who do not.

For people who have a very high rate of decay, their dentist may prescribe toothpaste that has a higher concentration of fluoride.  Such a high concentration is able to reverse very small decayed areas.

Young children who can not rinse and spit out should not use fluoridated toothpaste.  They may swallow too much fluoride which may stain the permanent teeth.  That is why some manufacturers market fluoride free toothpaste for children.  Tom’s of Maine (www.tomsofmaine.com), known for their “natural” oral health care products offers fluoride free, strawberry flavor toothpaste for children.