What kind of Toothpaste are you using?

At McGlone Dental Care, we ask our patients regularly, what kind of toothpaste they use. We aren’t surprised to hear that most patients are using very abrasive toothpaste that are actually doing more harm than good. With whitening toothpastes being so popular and also very abrasive, it’s no wonder that most patients have an excess of ridges and loss of enamel. We also see receding and gum loss that can be attributed to using abrasive toothpaste, such as whitening ones.

There is a way to see which toothpaste is rated as low and high on the abrasive scale. Relative dentin abrasivity (RDA) is a method to determine the abrasive value of toothpaste. See the chart below with the value of abrasivity next to each toothpaste listed.

Click the image to open a larger version of this chart.

Lower the number the better, when it comes to toothpaste.  You will notice that the “whitening” toothpastes that are listed on the chart, rank higher on the list.  Therefore they are more abrasive.

You can see that all toothpastes are not created equal.  If you’d like to keep your teeth and gums healthy for a very long time, opt for a lower RDA value of toothpaste to use daily.  If you want to whiten and brighten your smile, then think about doing an in office professional whitening treatment or having whitening trays custom made for you so you can use whitening gel at home.  The gel works great and you won’t be damaging your enamel and gums by using an abrasive toothpaste every day.  Your smile will actually be brighter and whiter a lot quicker than it takes with the toothpaste!

For more information about RDA check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_dentin_abrasivity