Not always easy to find your way around the toothpaste department: whitening, anti-tartar, fluoride, gum care or sensitive teeth? What are their specificities and how to guide your choice?

Indispensable to good dental health, toothpaste is one of the products that we use daily and the choice of which is not always easy. If the shelves seem to be overflowing with an infinite number of different products, toothpastes can be grouped into 5 main categories:

Whitening toothpastes

Whitening or whitening toothpastes are among the favorites of the French. They contain a cleaning agent, which acts on the coloring of the teeth related to food – coffee, tea – or lifestyle – tobacco. These toothpastes are not strictly speaking whitening, because they do not change the color of the teeth but give them more shine. Rather, they should be qualified as brighteners.

The cleaning agents found in this type of toothpaste can be abrasive elements such as silica, baking soda which removes stains, perlite with a polishing effect or titanium dioxide which is a white pigment. opacifying.

These agents are present in greater quantities in whitening formulas. Their contents are however regulated by the ISO 11609 standard, in order to limit their abrasive power and to make them usable on a daily basis.

Anti-tartar toothpastes

Failing to actually remove tartar, this type of toothpaste actually has an action on dental plaque, which is the cause of tartar formation. Dental plaque is a deposit of food debris, saliva and bacteria, which over months turns into tartar. Once the scale is installed, only an in-office descaling is really effective to remove it.

Anti-tartar toothpaste helps loosen dental plaque and deposits a thin film on the tooth, limiting plaque build-up at the next meal.

Fluoride or anti-decay toothpaste

Fluoride is a trace element naturally present in teeth. It is the anti-decay compound par excellence: it acts by direct contact by strengthening the mineral structure of tooth enamel.

Almost all toothpastes contain fluoride in varying amounts. Conventional toothpastes contain an average of 1000 ppm (parts per million) while fortified toothpastes contain up to 1500. In some people, particularly prone to cavities, the daily use of a strongly fluoridated toothpaste can be effective.

Toothpaste for sensitive gums

Bleeding and pain while brushing teeth, swollen and / or receding gums, showing the root of the tooth: fragile gums can cause many symptoms and go as far as gingivitis or even periodontitis.

The use of a suitable toothpaste can then help soothe sensitive tissues and therefore the symptoms. These toothpastes for sensitive gums generally contain soothing and healing agents.  

Toothpastes for sensitive teeth

While the gums can be sensitive, so can the teeth themselves. Tooth hypersensitivity generally results in pain on contact with cold or very sweet foods. It is caused by an alteration of tooth enamel, which no longer effectively protects dentin, an area of ​​the tooth rich in nerve endings.

The choice of toothpaste is therefore important. It is first of all desirable not to opt for toothpaste whiteness, too abrasive, which would risk aggravating the problem, and to choose a toothpaste for sensitive teeth containing a compound which fixes on the dentin to protect it.

How to guide your choice among the many products available to us? “Contrary to what the packaging and advertisements want us to believe, the choice of toothpaste is not important in oral health” says Dr Selim Helali, dentist in Paris for whom the choice of brush and technique brushing are much more.

“However, it may be advantageous to choose certain products rather than others in the event of particular clinical situations: gingivitis, tenderness, periodontal disease or surgery, for example” adds the specialist.

Be careful, the fluoride dosage varies depending on the age of the children, it is important not to offer adult toothpaste to young children.

Fluoride = danger?

“Too high doses of fluoride in children under 6 years of age can cause fluorosis, which is manifested by brown or white spots on the tooth enamel” insists the dentist.

As soon as the teeth of the little ones start to come out, they can be brushed with a small suitable brush slightly moistened. The use of toothpaste should only be done when the child knows how to spit it out.

The amounts of fluoride, depending on the age of the child: 

• From the age of two, toothpaste should provide between 250 and 600 ppm of fluoride.
• From three years old: between 500 and 1000 ppm.
• And from only 6 years old, children can use toothpaste at the same dosage as adults, namely between 1000 and 1500 ppm of fluoride.

Whitening toothpastes contain slightly abrasive substances. They can be used daily as long as you choose a toothbrush with soft bristles and make gentle movements. People with tooth sensitivity should avoid them.

A recent survey published on “Acting for the environment” (1), nearly two toothpastes out of three contain titanium dioxide, a substance strongly suspected of being carcinogenic. It is therefore preferable to choose toothpastes that are free from it.