When choosing toothpaste for your daily use, an important factor to discuss with your dentist is abrasivity. Many types of toothpaste contain fine, slightly gritty substances like hydrated silica, calcium carbonate, or sodium metaphosphate. These abrasive materials help with cleaning your teeth, but a toothpaste that is too coarse can cause damage, so here’s what you need to know about this factor to make a healthy choice for your teeth.

Benefits of Abrasives in Toothpaste

The point of these ingredients is to help scour materials from the surface of the teeth, in a way similar to sanding old paint from wood. Toothpaste with these ingredients helps remove plaque and lift stains off the surface of dental enamel for a modest teeth whitening effect. Cleaning your teeth thoroughly helps prevent dental decay, as it removes food debris and bacterial film. It also protects your gums from bacteria buildup, reducing your risk of gum disease.

The Correct Amount of Abrasivity

Dentists measure toothpaste’s scouring action with relative dentin abrasion (RDA) values. An RDA of 100 means that a material can wear away one millimeter of dentin—the softer inner material of your tooth—in 100,000 strokes. Lower RDA values are less abrasive, and higher values are more. Manufacturers are not required to list the RDA of toothpaste on the package, but you can find this information by searching for your brand and formula of toothpaste online. You can also try asking your dentist for toothpaste with low abrasivity.

The ADA recommends using toothpaste with an RDA of 250 or lower. Some patients worry that an RDA over 150 may still be too high and cause unnecessary wear on their enamel, but this is not the case, and any excess wear is likely due to other factors like acidic food and drinks. Also, note that this recommendation is for your natural teeth; abrasive toothpaste shouldn’t be used on dentures. Instead, you should ask your dentist to recommend cleaners designed for these dental prosthetics.

To talk to a dentist about the right toothpaste for your needs, make an appointment with Elm Dental Care. Conveniently located on Elm Street and serving Saint Charles, MO’s New Town neighborhood, Dr. Michael Leuchtmann has over 10 years of experience and offers a full range of dental services with a five-year warranty. Visit this practice online for a complete list of services, or call (636) 916-4848 to schedule an appointment.