Hey everyone! There’s a topic that’s always been on the forefront of my patients’ minds and that’s “toothpastes.” Many of my patients always ask which ones are the best ones and my response is always: “The ones that are least abrasive.”
You can find out which toothpastes are the least abrasive by looking at their RDA value, or Relative Dentin Abrasivity. It’s a scale from 0-250. A mild abrasive would measure between 0-70. Moderate measures between 70-100. High measure between 100-150. And anything above 150 is a very high abrasive.
Typically, the least abrasive toothpastes are the ones that mark themselves as “sensitive toothpastes.” Essentially, they don’t want to incorporate hard particles in their toothpaste which could end up abrading and inducing more sensitivity in teeth. So, they make them with a smooth-like consistency. The most abrasive toothpastes are the ones that advertise themselves as whitening. As I like to say, these have more “crunchies” to abrade and remove surface staining. Eventually, there does come a point where you’ve removed all the surface stains from your teeth and now all you’re doing is abrading your teeth. My favorite saying about whitening toothpastes is that, “you may be thinking you’re brushing your teeth to whiteness, but when in fact you’re brushing your teeth to yellowness.” You’re potentially removing the white shell of enamel off your teeth and revealing what really exists underneath which is a yellow tooth.
Check out the chart below and see where your toothpaste falls. It may surprise you!
Until next time! Have a nice day!
Dr. Anthony Do
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04 Toothbrush with plain water | 91 Aquafresh Sensitive |
07 Plain baking soda | 93 Tom’s of Maine |
15 Weleda Salt Toothpaste | 94 Rembrandt Plus |
30 Elmex Sensitive Plus | 95 Oxyfresh with Fluoride |
30 Weleda Plant Tooth Gel | 95 Crest Regular |
35 Arm & Hammer Dental Care | 97 Oxyfresh Powder |
40 Weleda Children’s Tooth Gel | 101 Natural White |
42 Arm & Hammer Mentadent Advance Whitening | 103 Mentadent |
44 Squiggle Enamel Saver | 103 Arm & Hammer Sensation |
45 Weleda Calendula Toothpaste | 104 Sensodyne Extra Whitening |
45 Weleda Pink Toothpaste with Ratanhia | 106 Colgate Platinum |
45 Oxyfresh | 106 Arm & Hammer Advance White Extreme Whitening |
48 Arm & Hammer Dental Care Sensitive | 107 Crest Sensitivity Protection |
49 Tom’s of Maine Sensitive | 110 Colgate Herbal |
52 Arm & Hammer Peroxicare Regular | ~80 Amway Glister |
53 Rembrandt Original | 113 Aquafresh Whitening |
53 Closys | 117 Arm & Hammer Advance White Gel |
54 Arm & Hammer Dental Care PM Bold Mint | 117 Arm & Hammer Sensation Tartar Control |
57 Tom’s of Maine Childrens | 120 Close Up with Baking Soda |
62 Supersmile | 124 Colgate Whitening |
63 Rembrandt Mint | 130 Crest Extra Whitening |
68 Colgate Regular | 133 Ultra Brite |
70 Colgate Total | 144 Crest Multicare Whitening |
70 Arm & Hammer Advance White Sensitive | 145 Ultra Brite Advanced Whitening Formula |
70 Colgate 2-in-1 Fresh Mint | 150 Pepsodent |
78 Biotene | 165 Colgate Tartar Control |
79 Sensodyne | 168 Arm & Hammer Dental Care PM Fresh Mint |
80 AIM | 176 Nature’s Gate Paste |
80 Close Up | 184 Crest ProHealth |
82 Under the Gum | 200 Colgate 2-in-1TartarControl/Whitening |
83 Colgate Sensitive Max Strength | |
87 Nature’s Gate |