If you practice good dental hygiene, you brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes using a soft-bristled toothbrush and toothpaste. Toothpaste contains some form of detergent, fluoride, abrasives, and flavoring that focus on many mouth and tooth issues, including whitening and tartar control. Dentists recommend you use toothpaste with the right level of abrasive ingredients. If you're wondering what that level is and why it's important, here is a guide to help you understand toothpaste abrasiveness and how to make your next toothpaste selection. 

Why Does Abrasiveness Matter?

Plaque is a transparent film that forms in your mouth and is one of the major causes of dental decay and gum disease. Removing it from your teeth and gums is vital for a healthy mouth. The abrasive ingredients in a toothpaste work to brush away the harmful plaque and tartar. It also helps remove tooth stains related to foods, beverages, and tobacco use. While you may think stained teeth are simply unsightly, failing to eliminate these extrinsic stains regularly can result in more firmly attached discolorations requiring a dentist's care to remove them. 

What Happens When Abrasiveness Is Too High?

If cleaning your teeth is painful or you experience gum bleeding while brushing, this could signal that the toothpaste you are using is too abrasive for your more sensitive teeth and gums. Pain while brushing could discourage proper care, encouraging you to limit your dental routine below the dentists' prescribed two-minute, twice-a-day timeframe. 

Continued use of toothpaste with too much abrasive can result in uneven wearing of your teeth when combined with other factors like diet or teeth grinding. The result of continued use of an overly abrasive toothpaste could be poor gum health, an increase in tooth decay, and possible tooth loss.

What Is the Right Level of Abrasiveness?

The toothpaste label won't tell you how abrasive the product is because a lack of medically active ingredients prevents the requirement for disclosure. To find out the abrasive content of the toothpaste you use, look online for the relative dentin abrasivity (RDA) rating, a scientific measurement of how easily the materials in a toothpaste wear down teeth, plaque, and other deposits.

A toothpaste must have an RDA of 200 or lower for FDA approval, while the ADA recommends an RDA no higher than 250. It is important to note that most abrasive toothpaste sold today has RDAs at around 163. Those advertised for teeth whitening tend to have a higher abresivity rating because the abrasive elements are most efficient for plaque removal.  

For help to remove plaque and stains on your teeth, turn to Ronald W. Ristow, D.D.S., LLC. They've been serving patients throughout Oconto County, WI, and the surrounding areas for decades, offering everything from emergency services to cleanings and safe, effective teeth whitening. Visit their website for more on their cosmetic dentistry services or call (920) 846-3163 to make your first appointment.