Does It Matter Which Toothpaste I Use?
Standing in front of the wall of toothpaste in the drugstore can be just as overwhelming as confronting the rainbow of toothbrushes and their various promises. From bright packages, they yell at you, grabbing your attention with marketer-made promises about how they will make your mouth better.
Tooth whitening
Breath freshening
Anti-cavity
Anti-sensitivity
Total care
All that sounds so good, but what does it mean in actual results for your teeth?
To help clarify your decision and make you confident that you’ve chosen the right toothpaste, we’ll cover the most important thing your toothpaste should have, and even cover a few things you may want to avoid when buying toothpaste.
What to avoid
Just cutting your options down can help you come to a decision much faster, and give you more confidence when you finally do make the decision to buy.
All-natural
All-natural products are great in many different areas of your life, but they fall flat when trying to protect your teeth. These products are seldom backed by science and often leave out important ingredients for oral health.
Children’s toothpaste
Often these kinds of toothpaste simply add sugar to the ingredients to make them more palatable for children. However, all that sugar can have negative consequences on your child’s oral health.
Whitening
Over-the-counter toothpaste can do very little to whiten your teeth. In fact, most of these are simply more abrasive, which can get rid of some stains but can also cause your teeth to become more sensitive.
What to look for
Now that you’ve pruned down your choices, you only need to look for two things to be confident that your toothpaste will protect your teeth and oral health.
Fluoride
The single most powerful tool in toothpaste’s gauntlet is fluoride. Not only will it protect your teeth, but it can also encourage tooth enamel to grow back and fight cavities as they begin.
ADA stamp of approval
The American Dental Association is the umbrella professional body that ensures the industry is living up to its responsibility to take care of your oral health. Once you see an ADA stamp of approval on a tube of toothpaste, you can be sure it’s gone through rigorous testing to ensure it will protect and clean your teeth.