Why we need a next generation toothpaste?

The use of toothpaste is believed to date all the way back to 5000 BC, when the ancient Egyptians ground ingredients like ox hooves’ ash and burnt eggshells into a pumice. Later versions featured other ingredients, including soap, chalk, betel nut, and ground charcoal, and were usually sold as powders.

In 1873, Colgate launched the first mass-produced toothpaste in a jar, followed two decades later by tubes of toothpaste that you would recognize as being similar to those used today. Fluoride toothpastes with demonstrated efficacy were introduced decades later, and since then the use of fluoride toothpaste has lead to significant caries reduction.

Multi-benefit toothpaste

Brushing twice a day with a multi-benefit toothpaste can help to manage and prevent a number of common oral health conditions, including:

• Dental caries
• Dentin hypersensitivity
• Dental biofilm accumulation
• Gingivitis
• Dental erosion
• Calculus
• Halitosis
• Extrinsic staining

These conditions can have a pronounced impact on the health, well-being, and quality of life of our patients. For example, dental caries can result in the need for restorative care, and pain and suffering if it progresses while periodontitis, the more advanced stage of periodontal disease, can affect systemic health. Dentin hypersensitivity can cause intense discomfort and force a patient to alter their dietary habits in response, while staining and halitosis can damage self-esteem.

Using a multi-benefit toothpaste that targets several of these issues offers a simple, effective, and affordable way for patients to help maintain their oral health. However, next-generation toothpaste needs to go a step further.

Next-generation toothpaste

A next-generation toothpaste, Colgate Total, addresses all of these issues with one unique formulation designed for Whole Mouth Health. The use of zinc phosphate to stabilize fluoride results in increased availability of fluoride. Colgate Total also whitens with superior stain reduction compared to non-antibacterial fluoride toothpastes, and markedly reduces dentin hypersensitivity compared to an ordinary fluoride toothpaste.

Stabilizing the fluoride with zinc phosphate improves its antibacterial properties, too. Colgate Total has also been found to significantly reduce bacteria in all oral micro-environments, reducing biofilm accumulation, gingivitis, and halitosis. A next-generation toothpaste is one that also helps patients to achieve Whole Mouth Health.

What is Whole Mouth Health?

Teeth only make up 20% of the total surface area of the mouth. The other 80% is made up of the soft tissues -- the tongue, cheeks and gingiva. Each of these environments is home to billions of bacteria and other micro-organisms, collectively known as the oral microbiome. The delicate balance of this ecosystem is linked not just to the health of the oral cavity, but of the whole body.

Whole Mouth Health recognizes this symbiotic relationship and acknowledges that oral health can only be achieved when both the hard and soft tissues are healthy and the microbiome is in balance. To do this, we need a next-generation toothpaste like Colgate Total that can control bacteria and biofilm accumulation on all surfaces of the mouth.

Colgate Total offers a simple, holistic solution for Whole Mouth Health that patients can feel confident using. Plus, positive oral health and esthetic outcomes also help to preserve trust and satisfaction in our patient relationships.