Ingredients of Toothpaste

Each toothpaste has unique formula. Let’s see what are the ingredients of toothpaste.

Most of the toothpaste on the market has similar ingredients.

Fluoride: This ingredient will strengthen teeth for acid inside foods and beverages. It will prevent tooth decays. It is found as sodium mono-fluorophosphate, stannous (tin) fluoride or sodium fluoride on labels

Abrasives: Cleaning property of toothpaste comes from these ingredients. It will eliminate tooth stains and dental plaque. It is found as calcium phosphate, alumina calcium carbonate, and silica on labels. Some toothpaste has high abrasive property to harm enamel and create sensitivity.

Detergents: These agents will make a foam but has no effect for cleaning purposes. Most common type is sodium laurel sulphate(SLS). A researched showed that this agent increases canker sores. To decrease the taste of detergent, high amount of sweetener and aroma is used.

Humectant: This prevents the toothpaste to dry and keep it intact. This ingredient is often written as glycerine, sorbitol and aqua. Xylitol Is humectant that prevents tooth decay. But these ingredients isn’t used often.

Stabiliser: The texture of toothpaste is determined by stabilisers like carrageenan, cellulose gum, and xanthan.

Preservatives: These ingredients will prevent formation of microorganisms, and helps the toothpaste to be stored at room temperature. It is written as sodium benzoate, methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, triclosan.

Aroma: These ingredients is added to supress strong smell and smell and taste of detergents. Limonene and eugenol are some of the aromatic substances in toothpaste.

Sweetening Agent: The sweet taste of toothpaste is given by these ingredients. Artificial sweetening agents may be used to prevent tooth decay. Most common sweetening agents are (sodium) saccharine, and sorbitol.

Dye: If these synthetic dye agents are not added, toothpaste make look ugly. 5-Digit codes starting with Cl letters (like Cl 12345 ) identifies the colour. Titanium dioxide is one of the whitening agents in toothpaste. Titanium dioxide in whitening products actually doesn’t whiten the tooth but coats the tooth with white surface for a limited amount of time.