Toothpaste has 3 main tasks: cleaning teeth, freshening breath, and preventing dental issues such as cavities and gum disease. You need all three to go about your day feeling great.
We worked with a leading toothpaste manufacturer for 6 months to get our sustainable toothpaste just right. Alongside plenty of conversations with dentists we learned how toothpastes work and what to look for:
- Mechanical action: abrasives but the gentle kind
Toothpaste contains abrasive particles, such as calcium carbonate or silica, which help to mechanically remove food particles, plaque, and surface stains from the teeth when brushing. These abrasives should be gentle enough to avoid damaging tooth enamel but effective in removing debris.
- Chemical action: fluoride is a must but papain and hydroxyapatite are what makes the difference
- Fluoride: Every dentist will tell you that fluoride is THE key ingredient in toothpaste because it helps to strengthen tooth enamel and prevent tooth decay. Fluoride works by remineralizing the enamel, making it more resistant to acid attacks from bacteria that produce plaque and cause cavities.
- Papain: Papain is an enzyme that has a significant impact on the whitening of the teeth. It’s a new ingredient but it accelerates the decomposition of the ‘staining’ chemicals.
- Hydroxyapatite: working alongside fluoride, hydroxyapatite remineralises the teeth (very cool science behind this: see references) helping prevent cavities.
- Freshening breath: mint but use the good stuff
- Flavouring agents: While the menthol feels really good (cooling) it’s largely marketing that makes us think it’s the ‘right’ taste for toothpaste.
The final aspect is how you use it: A pea sized amount is all you need. Then rather than rinsing your mouth out immediately, it is best to spit out the excess and avoid rinsing your mouth. This allows time for all the fine ingredients to do their work.
Finally, there is no use having toothpaste is some is left in the tube at the end. Based on our testing, roughly 7% is always left in a typical tube. For this reason, we developed a squeezer key that helps you get out those last %s. It is also useful on other tubes like tomato paste :-)
Caring for your teeth matters, please make sure you choose a healthy toothpaste - we have only been able to summarise the research we did here. If you have any questions - please send them through.
Selected research material
Meta analysis of fluoride efficacy and concentrations https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12471385/#:~:text=The%20largest%20caries%20reductions%20were,%25%20%2D0.34%2F%2D0.24).
Secondary research into hydroxyapatite effectiveness in toothpaste https://www.nature.com/articles/s41405-019-0026-8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8930857/
Findings from a randomised, positive-controlled, double-blinded, clinical study into Papain. (The Gold standard). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573376/
Vitro study into use of hydroxyapatite as toothpaste abrasive https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10047781/
Vox article on how marketers linked mint to fresh breath https://www.vox.com/2014/12/1/7309499/mint-fresh-breath