Interesting facts about Toothpastes

Starting from my early childhood every day I use a toothpaste and know only that it cleans the teeth and foams. So I have never been thinking about its components and action mechanism.

The modern toothpastes are composed of three principal ingredients such as abrasives, fluoride, detergents, except of water which makes up 20-40% of toothpaste.

The largest part of a toothpaste is represented by abrasives. Frequently abrasives include insoluble particles of silica, calcium carbonate, aluminum hydroxide etc. The people of Roman Empire also used some abrasives for their antique toothpaste - it were crushed bones and oyster shells. So, it is easy to guess that the main mission of these abrasive particles is to remove dental plaque and food remainders from our teeth.

Well-known agent of toothpaste as fluoride accounts for the remineralization of teeth enamel. It is capable to prevent dental cavities. Commonly the fluoride in the toothpaste is represented by sodium fluoride and its content does not surpass 0,3%.

Toothpaste foams because of detergents presence. Like shampoo and shower gel, the majority of toothpastes contain such surfactant as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). More SLS in the toothpaste - more foam in your mouth. Some toothpastes, like a bleaching gel, contain hydrogen peroxide. In this case a whitening effect is expected.

Contemporary people more and more demonstrate a tendency to the natural or "Bio" products. You can avoid fluoride and sodium lauryl sulfate as well as artificial flavors and dyes by help of herbal toothpaste. Normally herbal toothpaste has only natural components including plant extract and eucalyptus oil.