CHOICE magazine has turned its attention to toothpastes, and has concluded that some promoted ‘benefits’ of some brands are little more than marketing spin. The report, which investigated 17 different toothpaste brands, also found that toothpastes promoted for sensitive teeth do have different ingredients to standard brands, but that others—including some ‘whitening’ pastes—had the same ingredients as the regular brands.
“Terms like ‘advanced-whitening’, ‘multi-action,’ ‘enamel-lock,’ and ‘micro-cleaning crystals’ give the impression that the large range of toothpastes all do something different, with the expensive items doing something more than a basic product,” says CHOICE spokesperson Ingrid Just. “In reality, you’re paying extra for essentially the same product.”
“Brands are constantly searching for a point of difference to market their products, but the ingredients speak for themselves. All toothpastes do basic jobs – they polish teeth and dislodge particles of food to avoid cavities and plaque,” says Ms Just.
Despite the dominance of teeth whitening products in the oral care market, none of the whitening toothpastes investigated contained a bleaching agent – an ingredient required to physically alter the colour of teeth. Experts told CHOICE that the fine print covers the lack of a bleaching agent by saying that the toothpaste will remove stains.
“Whitening toothpastes are not an overall whitening treatment. In fact, of the 13 adult toothpastes we looked at, there was very little difference in the active ingredients, regardless of how cheap or expensive they were,” says Ms Just.
CHOICE says marketing spin isn’t confined to toothpastes for adults, with sophisticated marketing just as prominent in children’s toothpaste¹. Many products use packaging that features popular children’s characters such as Spiderman and the Wiggles, with others containing coloured stripes and sparkles.
“While dental experts recommend special low-fluoride toothpastes for very young children, those aimed at children over seven are nothing more than toothpaste manufacturers creating a niche market segment. That’s not a problem for the child’s teeth but it does potentially confuse parents who think they should buy special toothpaste for older children,” says Ms Just. To read CHOICE’s full report on toothpaste claims, visit the CHOICE website.
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Just with regards to ‘whitening’ toothpastes, unless they have the active ingredient that we as dental professionals use to whiten teeth which is H2O2, then of course they are not going to work and whiten! … we know that….but the general public don’t.
There is a paste out there however, that has H2O2 as its active ingredient and thats the ARM & HAMMER tooth paste … Its an EXCELLENT and very effective paste, on 2 counts, firstly it actually does work to whiten the teeth, especially for patients who have already done in surgery or home whitening … it will keep those pearly whites pearly white! …. you try it and you have to concur…over time on patients that have not had tooth whitening, it shoud lift them, however, I have only had patients who have already whitened use it, with astonishing success….I will have to run some ‘trials’ on patients who have not as yet whitenied their teeth!
The other benefit it has is that the H2O2 component is a natural anti bacterial agent, …. as we know, and it fights the bacteria in the mouth, reducing gingivitis. I recomend it to my patients all the time, with excellent results all round. and at $5 its a bargain! … Hard for patients to locate though. I order it on line in bulk.
I found an excellent toothpaste in Europe called Swissdent it actually whitens the teeth very effectively, and the RDA was very low. It was a little pricey in EU – I believe it’s coming to Australia soon