Have you ever looked at your toothpaste and wondered how exactly it cleans your teeth? How does that little blob of white or blue (or green or red or…) make your teeth and mouth feel clean and fresh? Well, that’s down to the ingredients, both active and inactive. When your Massachusetts dentist recommends a specific toothpaste, they are doing so based on the ingredients list and how effectively they clean your teeth and mouth.
Here’s a look at five of the most common ingredients in the toothpastes your Massachusetts dentist recommends and what they do.
Fluoride
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that helps strengthen the enamel on your teeth. Enamel is like a natural coating on your teeth that helps prevent cavities and protects against wear from acidic food and drinks. Not all toothpastes contain fluoride, and while they’ll still clean your teeth, you’ll lose the protective assistance fluoride provides.
Abrasives
Abrasives are technically an inactive ingredient in toothpaste because they don’t chemically react with your teeth to reduce your risk of cavities or gum disease. However, they are still crucial to properly cleaning your teeth. Abrasives scrub food debris and surface stains from your teeth, leaving them smooth and polished.
Flavors
You need ingredients like fluoride and abrasives to clean your teeth, but they don’t taste very nice. The most common toothpaste flavor is mint, but there are other options, such as berry or bubblegum, especially for kids. Some toothpastes also have sweetening agents, such as saccharin or sorbitol. These ingredients sweeten the toothpaste, but they won’t cause or exacerbate tooth decay because they don’t actually contain any sugar.
Humectants
A single tube of toothpaste can last a while, and you don’t want it to dry out. Humectants are the ingredients in toothpaste that keep it from getting dry and crumbly. These ingredients trap water in the toothpaste, so it’s nice and smooth every time you squeeze the tube. Glycol and glycerol are common humectants, as is sorbitol, which is both a humectant and a flavoring agent.
Detergents
Finally, we have detergents. Don’t worry—you’re not literally washing your mouth out with soap! There is a connection, however, as detergents make toothpaste foamy when you brush. Foaming toothpaste helps coat your teeth with the other ingredients, making them more effective at cleaning your teeth.
