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Toothpaste (Dentifrice)
Toothpaste, also called dentifrice, is essential to your daily oral hygiene routine. Toothpastes are pastes, gels or powders that help remove plaque, a film of bacteria that forms on teeth and gums. Toothpaste improves the mechanical brushing and cleaning power of a toothbrush.
What does fluoride toothpaste do?
It helps remove plaque, a film of bacteria that forms on teeth and gums every day. Plaque can cause gum disease and tooth decay. Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay by strengthening tooth enamel. Find out more about fluoride.
Some toothpastes contain ingredients such as potassium nitrate or strontium chloride to help reduce tooth sensitivity. Stannous fluoride and triclosan help reduce gingivitis, a mild inflammation of the gum tissue. Pyrophosphates, triclosan and zinc citrate help reduce a build up of hardened plaque, called tartar. Modified silica abrasives or enzymes can help whiten teeth by physically removing surface stains. And some ingredients, such as triclosan, have been shown to help reduce bad breath.
The human mouth is home to an estimated 800 to 1,000 different kinds of bacteria. The warm and moist environment, along with hard tooth surfaces and soft tissues, prove to be optimal factors in boosting germ growth. Many of these bacteria are harmful and can form a film on teeth called "dental plaque," which causes cavities, gingivitis and eventually more severe kinds of gum disease.
Toothpaste that contains triclosan/copolymer is better than regular fluoride toothpastes at killing the kinds of bacteria that live in people's mouths, according to a study published in the January/February 2010 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).
"Manufacturers add specific agents to toothpastes to provide added benefits to consumers," said Joseph J. Zambon, DDS, PhD, one of the study's authors and a distinguished teaching professor at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. "The best known agent is fluoride, which was added to toothpaste to prevent cavities. Triclosan added to toothpaste has been shown in a number of clinical studies to inhibit plaque and gingivitis. The copolymer helps to keep triclosan in your mouth for a longer period of time, which boosts its ability to inhibit oral bacteria."
The triclosan/copolymer toothpaste and two fluoride toothpastes were tested on several different kinds of lab-grown bacteria that mimic germs found in the mouth. The tests were also done on bacteria taken from the mouths of human volunteers.
