September 20 is the 35th National Love Teeth Day, the first step in maintaining healthy teeth is to brush your teeth well, and it is important to choose the right and safe toothbrush and toothpaste. Did you choose the right brushing "tool"? Little C tells you -
First, the quality and safety of toothbrushes
At present, there are many types of toothbrushes on the market, and the main standards for mainland control toothbrushes are GB 39669-2020 "General Technical Requirements for the Safety of Toothbrushes and Oral Appliances", GB 19342-2013 "Toothbrushes", GB 30002-2013 "Children's Toothbrushes", GB/T 40362-2021 "Electric toothbrushes - General requirements and detection methods", etc.
Among them, the scope of application of GB 39669-2020 "General Technical Requirements for the Safety of Toothbrushes and Oral Appliances" (hereinafter referred to as GB 39669-2020) includes not only toothbrushes but also oral appliances for daily cleaning and care, which has become an important basis for the government to supervise product quality.
Let's take a look at some of the more important detection items in GB 39669-2020:
01 Toothbrush bristle pull
Bundle pull refers to the force required when the toothbrush bristles are pulled out, unqualified toothbrush bristle pull may cause the bristles to fall off during use, and the falling bristles are easy to cause safety hazards to consumers, especially children, in the oral cavity.
GB 39669-2020 stipulates: The bundle pull force of adult toothbrushes and children's toothbrushes should be ≥ 15N.
02 Toothbrush neck bending resistance
Neck bending resistance is also a safety indicator of toothbrush products, neck bending resistance is not up to standard will cause the brush head and brush handle connection during use to break, the tip of the broken part may cause harm to consumers.
GB 39669-2020 stipulates: The neck bending force of adult toothbrushes should be ≥ 43N or the deformation limit range without breaking; The neck bending force of children's toothbrushes should not break within the ≥ 25N or deformation limit.
03 sharpen the wire
The tip of the bristles is sharpened to make the tip of the bristles a pointed tapered shape, which can reduce gum damage and improve the function of the toothbrush to clean the toothbrush between the teeth, which is more conducive to the cleaning of teeth.
GB 39669-2020 specifies the qualification rate of sharpened wire monofilament tip wire diameter:
Toothbrush shopping advice
1. Buy a toothbrush from a regular merchant.
2. Pay attention to the size of the brush head when choosing a toothbrush, especially when choosing a children's toothbrush, the size of the brush head must be in line with the age, to avoid being too large and too small to weaken the brushing effect.
3. After purchase, verify whether the invoice matches the product, and pay attention to keep it properly. Once a quality problem occurs, you can pursue responsibility and protect your own rights and interests based on the invoice.
Second, the quality and safety of toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste composed of a mixture of friction agents, moisturizers, thickeners, foaming agents, fragrances, water and other additives (including functional ingredients used to improve oral health) as the main raw materials.
The basic functions of toothpaste include: cleaning the mouth, lightening tooth stains, reducing soft scale, whitening teeth, reducing plaque, refreshing breath, refreshing taste, maintaining healthy teeth and periodontal tissues (including gums), and maintaining oral health.
At present, the domestic standard for controlling toothpaste is mainly GB/T 8372-2017 "toothpaste", which is applicable to toothpaste for cleaning and caring for the mouth. Let's take a look at a few important test items in the standard:
01 Amount of soluble fluorine or free fluorine, total fluorine
Toothpaste can be divided into fluoride toothpaste and non-fluoride toothpaste; Fluoride toothpaste is usually added with stannous fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate, ammonium fluoride, sodium fluoride, in which fluoride ions can react with hydroxyapatite of tooth enamel to form fluoroapatite, so that the structure of tooth enamel is enhanced. Fluoride is considered an effective caries preventant.
GB/T 8372-2017 "Toothpaste" stipulates the fluoride content as follows:
In addition, toothpaste has a fragrance and children may swallow part of the toothpaste, so the standard narrows the fluoride content limit of toothpaste indicated for use in children, which can both obtain the protective effect of fluoride on baby teeth and is very safe.
02Heavy metals (lead, arsenic)
Heavy metals will be introduced into the friction agent, thickener and other ingredients contained in toothpaste and packaging containers, and long-term exposure to heavy metals by the human body may cause dysfunction of the nervous and digestive systems.
GB/T 8372-2017 "Toothpaste" has the following requirements for heavy metals lead and arsenic:
03 Microbiological indicators
Toothpaste in the production and use of the process is easily contaminated by microorganisms, because toothpaste directly in contact with the oral mucosa, if the microbial content exceeds the standard, it will lead to dysentery and other intestinal diseases, may cause vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms, endangering human health and safety.
The requirements for microbiological indicators in GB/T 8372-2017 "Toothpaste" are as follows:
Toothpaste buying advice
1. Go to a regular shopping place to buy toothpaste.
2. It is recommended that the opened toothpaste be used within one to two months to avoid harm caused by microbial contamination.
3. Although fluoride toothpaste has anti-caries effect, excessive fluoride content in the body may cause fluorosis. When buying fluoride toothpaste, you should observe the amount of fluoride added on the label, and rinse the toothpaste after brushing.