You’ve probably been brushing your teeth with toothpaste for longer than you remember. (We hope, anyway!) As with many things that go back before you had critical thinking skills, you’ve probably never stopped to consider the role of toothpaste in your oral hygiene. This is an important foundation for our series on toothpaste, so let’s dive into the point of using toothpaste!

Toothpaste is designed to be a slightly gritty substance that enhances your brushing efforts. This acts as an abrasive to remove plaque and tartar that build up on teeth, along your gumline, and under your gums. The tiny, hard particles in the toothbrush scrape away the build-up on your teeth.

Additionally, many toothpastes add ingredients that help to re-mineralize the enamel that coats your teeth. Your saliva constantly coats your teeth and patches weak spots in your enamel with calcium and phosphate. When your saliva has fluoride in it, the calcium, phosphate, and fluoride combine to make a powerful protective coating called  fluoroapatite. This is stronger than enamel on its own, resists decay, and acts as a powerful shield against sugars and acids.

Many modern toothpastes add in other ingredients that are not essential but may make the toothbrushing experience better. This includes colors, flavors, anti-bacterials, and foaming agents. Colors and flavors make help encourage young children (or you!) to brush regularly. Anti-bacterials are put in toothpaste to help kill harmful bacteria, but as we’ll look into later, they also kill beneficial bacteria. Foaming agents help the toothpaste create a thick foam. This can help the toothpaste sit on your teeth better, and may make the experience of brushing more pleasurable.

Ok, you probably don’t think your toothpaste is doing card tricks… but many people view their toothpaste as mysteriously doing most of the work of cleaning your teeth. However, this is not true! In fact, toothpaste plays a much smaller role in oral hygiene than the actual movement of your brush and proper flossing. You should not rely on the ingredients of your toothpaste to accomplish the task of cleaning your teeth. Toothpaste only gives a helpful boost to your own detailed oral hygiene routine.

Your toothpaste needs you to brush and floss accurately and consistently. If you’re not sure that you brush properly, you should use online resources or ask your dentist to help guide you to brush and floss more effectively. The frequency and efficiency of the movement of your brush and floss are the most important indicators of your risk for decay.

We will keep diving into toothpaste ingredients and how to choose one that’s right for you. But you should know that you will need to make your own judgement call on what’s important to you. Your dentist can recommend their favorite toothpaste, but ultimately only you know what you’re comfortable in your toothpaste. Some ingredients are untested in their safety or efficiency.

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