...to be so confused by toothpaste

[5Foot5]

Or at least why there has to be so many, many varieties.

I just nipped in to the supermarket to but some more toothpaste, usual brand (comes in a red box). It suddenly struck me as I was dithering over which one to get, how many choices there are and how impossible it is to know what distinguishes them all from each and which to get.

Just taking my usual brand as an example (also begins with a 'C') I counted no fewer than 17 different options with names that all seemed to be some permutation of "Total", "Advanced", "Whitening", "Sensitive" or "Fresh" together with the odd maverick variation like "Gel" or "Stripe". I mean can someone tell me what the actual difference is between "Total Whitening", "Advanced Whitening", "Total Advanced Whitening" and "Deep Clean Whitening"?

I can feel a letter to the manufacturers coming on!

And that is just one brans; the others all seemed to have many varieties to but to a lesser degree.

Does anyone know why?

I think I'll have to leave you to it iwantsun . You've obviously got strong beliefs from somewhere and I'm unlikely to be able to challenge them via the medium of MN mobile.

My beliefs come from research Mrsmorton, I have backed it up with evidence and research articles

Also my own dentist has advised that toothpaste is not necessary, someone from your own profession

Colgate Total makes my teeth feel cleeeeean.

That's all I got. :(

I would have though brushing technique is the most important issue here

Your dentist has advised you that it's not necessary, based on your oral health.

You are, presumably very lucky to have good oral health, and also (presumably) have a really good diet and brush your teeth perfectly.

But the majority of people aren't like you, so they shouldn't be given the advice that your dentist has given you.

Studies have been done so it it not just what my dentist is saying to me about my oral health and teeth BIWI

Psst BIWI, it's futile. Come and answer questions on the other thread, it's fascinating.

iwantsun - but as Mrsmorten has already explained - those are studies done amongst populations who eat a totally different diet from ours.

They aren't eating a carbohydrate/sugar-laden diet all the time, therefore they are likely to have much better oral health in the first place.

Carbohydrate and sugar react with bacteria in the mouth to create plaque, and it's the plaque that causes dental caries (as I understand it - but I'm sure the dentists on here will correct me if that's wrong ).

So if you're not eating the carbohydrate and sugar, you will have a much lower risk of caries altogether, therefore a different oral health regime can be utilised.

... but why are you so against toothpaste, by the way? You don't have to buy one that's got Triclosan in it, if you have a problem with that as an ingredient, or SLS. There are many different, more natural formulae around.

There are actually people in this country who use a toothstick and no toothpaste as well you know BIWI

Also crap food has reached all over the globe

Psst Mrsmorton its futile, don't bother reading the research, just keep thinking you know what is best

BIWI I look at the evidence and research and research has found brushing without toothpaste more effective. Colgate and other companies have sucked everyone in thinking that toothpaste is essential and you can't clean your teeth without it

As well I know? How would I?!

and I suspect Mrsmorton probably does know best seeing as what she's a dentist and everything!

Just because she is a dentist doesn't mean she knows best, doctors and dentists frequently get things wrong

I would rather look at research rather than what mrsmorton says

We don't even know if she is a dentist. There is NurseyWursey who has been purporting to be a nurse but isn't one

mrs morton is a dentist just like me working mainly in NHS, she frequently gives people free dental advice on here just like me

I have read plenty of research that is not sponsored by colgate etc but journals like british dental journal are not available online without subscription though sometimes you can read extracts

meta analysis ( taking the results of lots and lots of different research does show that fluoride toothpaste in particular has improved the dental health of UK tremendously despite the increase in sugar consumption,

all research has to pass ethical committees and there is some doubt as whether you would actually get approval for a research project when one option was pretty conclusively proved to be detrimental to health this applies across the board not just dentistry

of doctors and dentists get things wrong occasionally but in their field they are much less likely to be wrong than a random member of the public

sometimes a research paper does throw up an unexpected result that seems to contradict previous thought sometimes it is right more often the results are not repeatable or some other explanatory factor is the reason which was not eliminated statistically

when people do not clean properly they are still cleaning some parts and so the fluoride will be reaching there the article you quote iwantsun is interesting but largely irrelevant to UK population

historically in UK dental decay was a disease of the rich as sugar unavoidable, when they dig up skeletons from 2000-200 years ago the teeth are generally all present with no decay however they are generally very worn down due to grit in bread/grains, there is evidence of dental abscesses not from decay but exposed pulps ( nerves) due to wear and gum disease , gum disease was rife due to lack of vitamin C and poor oral hygiene as oral hygiene unavailable/unaffordable

while I am happy to give advice on this and many subjects I am not going to argue about reliable evidence etc as I do not have the time, I have no vested interest in any of the toothpaste/brush companies

not using paste it perhaps the right choice for you but that does not make it right for everyone else, just like for the odd child severely allergic to an ingredient in a vaccine would make it wrong for that child to have the vaccination for the rest of the population to follow when the unique circumstances do not apply would be at best foolish

I'm sure if we put together all of the research, it would show that the majority of us who eat a typically British style diet would fare better by using toothpaste. I'm not doubting that there are some people who do not need it, but looking as a collective and assuming that most people have an average brushing/oral hygiene technique that its safe to say that dentists are right to advocate the blanket use of toothpaste as a rule.