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toothbrush abrasivity (Reply to this comment)
by betsyhein
As a practicing dental hygienist for 30 years, I've seen all types of reactions to the chemicals and abrasivity of toothpastes and mouthrinses. I stumbled on Oxyfresh products while searching for a bad breath cure and found an entire line of products that I now recommend for my patients to gently maintain their cosmetic work, support their gum health and keep teeth their whitest with low abrasion (all under 100 RDA), alcohol and dye-free products..There are options for SLS-free, fluoride-free, gel. The article is right...not only do electric/sonic brushes wear on your teeth longer....but the nylon bristles hold the paste in the brush longer as well. Only use a tiny amount of toothpaste! Check out www.Oxyfresh.com/betsyhein or www.Oxydental.com/betsy or contact me...I have patients who swear by the products from this 25 year old company and come to the dental office to purchase them on a day when they don't even have an appt!..Good luck. Betsy
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Apr 26 '09
9:05 am PDT
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TOOTHPASTE (Reply to this comment)
by bnatural2earth
Just use baking soda [sodium bicarbonate]! It's natural and its RDA [radioactive dentin abrasion or relative dentin abrasivity] is only 07 on a scale where 200 & 250 are the FDA and ADA recommended limits. It has no Flouride, Triclosan, or SLS -- all either toxic to humans, animals and the environment and/or useless in actual dental/health care. [Look them up...]
I tried to find products both environmentally friendly and free from animal cruelty, but the two "green" toothpastes, "Tom's of Maine" and "Burt's Bees" are now owned by Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive respectively! UGGHH!!! P&G and C-P test on animals. UNNECESSARILY CRUEL!!!
In case plain baking soda leaves a bad taste in your mouth, here's a recipe for making your own toothpaste:
Mix 3 parts Baking Soda with 1 part salt. Add 3 teaspoons of glycerin*.
Add 10-20 drops of flavoring [peppermint, wintergreen, anise, or cinnamon] and enough water to make a paste.
Spoon into a small, refillable squeeze bottle.
Brush away without hurting your teeth, the environment or innocent animals!
*[Environmental Working Group's "Skin Deep" cosmetic safety database rates glycerin a 2 out of 10 on their toxicity scale. See their website at: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/]
So, save your teeth, cute critters, and the planet, all in one simple and inexpensive way! Then look into your other health & beauty aids, cosmetics, cleaning and paper products, etc. A little change goes a long way. Good luck to us all on our fragile planet mother earth...
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Feb 16 '09
9:42 pm PST
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Very valuable advice (Reply to this comment)
by kcr211
This review is outstanding and completely relevant. I never considered that the higher "RPMs" of an electric toothbrush might require a different sort of toothpaste. Heck, I never even considered that toothpaste manufacturers would make pastes on such a wide spectrum of abrasiveness. This is information that every potential purchaser of an electric toothbrush should know.
I have developed sensitive teeth over the years, partially because applying excess pressure with a manual brush caused my gums to recede, exposing the more sensitive root. While I have noticed improvement with the use of a Sonicare, I will certainly take RDA levels into account when I'm buying toothpaste to go with my electric. Bravo.
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Sep 11 '07
10:12 pm PDT
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Re: Thanks very much for your important & informative review! (Reply to this comment)
by thepiecesfit
what do you think of the violight??? for killing germs after brushing..
http://www.violight.com/press.html , sounds like a good investment to go with the electronic brush
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Dec 02 '06
9:33 am PST
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Re: Re: (Reply to this comment)
by elconde
As for SLS free toothpastes, here is one list online:
http://www.dentist.net/sls-free-toothpaste.asp
I know Jason Natural makes SLS free toothpaste as well, along with a number of natural/organic companies available at health food stores.
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Dec 09 '05
1:58 pm PST
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Re: (Reply to this comment)
by snsh
truedis: i added colgate luminuous to the list. and thank you for the compliment.
elconde: it would be nice to have a list of SLS-free toothpastes for people sensitive to them. only ones i see in supermarkets and drug stores is Biotene.
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Dec 06 '05
10:30 am PST
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Fantastic info but how about Natural Toothpastes? (Reply to this comment)
by elconde
I was looking everywhere for a fairly comprehensive list of RDA ratings for toothpastes and here you have provided it, and more! A truly incredible source of information.
If you ever come back to ammending this, it would be nice if you are able to add more products from the 'natural' and 'alternative' range of toothpastes. First, I understand this is a huge growth area in the industry. Second, people with oral sensitivities who seek out these products are perhaps more likely to be interested abrasiveness data.
I for one would like to know if a toothpaste I choose for its cautious choice of ingredients (Biotene; Jason Natural; Nature's Gate; Weleda) is not inadvertantly more abrasive and/or counterproductive overall. It would also be interesting to know how forthcoming and informed these companies are about their own products.
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Dec 05 '05
10:40 pm PST
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RDA for Colgate Luminous (Reply to this comment)
by truedis
I got the new Colgate Luminous toothpaste and really liked it until I noticed it has silica in the ingredients and started wondering what the RDA was (I'd read this before and had been using Total but didn't much like the taste). Anyway, I e-mailed them and it seems like Luminous=Whitening=Abrasive. They gave a range of 150-200, so watch out for this stuff. I'm going back to Total.
By the way, thanks for the awesome article and advice. Seriously one of the best I've ever seen on epinions!
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Dec 01 '05
6:22 pm PST
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Thanks very much for your important & informative review! (Reply to this comment)
by henry_thoreau
Your calling attention to "toothpaste abrasiveness" is extremely helpful to anyone seriously interested in preserving their teeth (and gum tissue) for the long run! I'm disappointed that more dentists don't bother to call attention to this very issue with their patients.
By the way, as of this writing, Arm & Hammer "Dental Care" toothpaste has an RDA of "49". (I chatted with their phone rep today.) By contrast, their "Enamel Care" toothpaste has an RDA of "110"! (How ironic!) Also, despite the fact that two other Arm & Hammer toothpastes have RDAs of only about "42", those products also contain peroxide, which is controversial (I read that it might irritate gum tissue and that it isn't even sold in Canada), and so I'm sticking with their above "Dental Care" product as being, arguably, the "best compromise" for a "low-abrasion" toothpaste.
This all goes to show that we consumers really do need to investigate such crucial "details" for ourselves!
P.S.: For more information about daily dental hygiene, see especially the concluding portion of my related (Epinions) discussion by pasting the following link on your browser's address line:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4536967300
Best regards,
"Henry"
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Oct 13 '05
8:13 pm PDT
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Impressive and helpful information (Reply to this comment)
by WndrMdgt
I am surprised at how hard it is to find this information anywhere.
Thank you for your work in pulling this all together. Others have commented that this review is not relevant. This information is very relevant to the process of picking a toothbrush. I will be looking for your reviews in the future, and I recommend others do the same.
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Dec 19 '03
1:45 pm PST
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Thanks (Reply to this comment)
by mlgj
Thanks for the input on toothpaste relative to using electric toothbrushes. I am thinking about replacing my current one for a "sonic" one and came upon your article.
I have wondered before about the abrasiveness of toothpaste, esp. in relationship to using an electric toothbrush. My current brush says to use gel instead of paste. After mistakenly grabbing the paste tube, I understand why. Ugh! Talk about foamy and pasty!!
It was also interesting to note that not all mfrs. note the rating on their product. People probably don't think about toothpaste or their habit of brushing as wearing down their enamel.
Thanks again.
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Oct 17 '03
10:21 am PDT
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Hi (Reply to this comment)
by shantel575,  in Wellness & Beauty
Glad you took the time to update, now let me explain why I still rated it as SH. The review is somewhat difficult to follow/understand, and doesn't really relate to the topic at hand as I see it? This doesn't really tell me very much about "what I need to know about electric toothbrushes". Also, you commented that a majority of your info. comes from other sources, other than yourself. Epinions is mainly about giving us the details of your personal experience. If you decide to update this any further, please let me know :)
Shantel
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Jul 04 '03
11:52 am PDT
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Re: Rating (Reply to this comment)
by snsh
Thanks for your feedback. It will help me to improve this review.
*most* of the data comes from manufacturer's literature. otherwise, from academic publications. otherwise, from competitors. some of the data is old and out of data, and will be updated over time.
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Feb 22 '03
4:55 am PST
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Rating (Reply to this comment)
by Suzer
This is certainly helpful information, but I was wondering what your source is for it, or if you are in the field yourself.
Thanks.
Suz
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Feb 21 '03
7:03 pm PST
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