Toothpaste is a daily necessity and common product, it closely cooperates with toothbrushes, becoming the "cleaner" of teeth, the "good helper" of mouth protection, and the "caregiver" of fresh breath.
Toothpaste has been with humans for thousands of years and has gone through several stages of evolution:
Original version – animal bone meal
Prototype version - crude green salt granules
Improved version – fine green salt or tea
Herbal version – Sichuan peppercorn powder, fennel powder or poria powder, etc
Modern version - industrial production of tooth powder, large-scale promotion
Basic version - invention of metal hose tooth powder
Modern version – a variety of toothpaste products with different chemical compositions
At present, toothpaste on the market is eye-catching, from the perspective of market segmentation, covering all groups of old, middle, young and young; From the perspective of efficacy, bright teeth, teeth cleaning, gum protection, decay, fresh mouth, etc.; From the perspective of source channels, there are many domestic brands and imported Internet celebrities; From the perspective of price positioning, the expensive ones are tens to hundreds of yuan, and the cheaper ones are more than ten pieces; From the point of view of the timing of use, it is used morning and evening, and so on.
In fact, no matter how the toothpaste is updated and replaced, its function is inseparable from 3:
1. The most basic role: clean teeth and prolong the service life of teeth.
2. The most popular function: repair some oral problems.
3. The most surprising effect: topical application to relieve pain or add points to social interaction.
Common ingredients of toothpaste are fluoride substances, friction agents, foaming agents, moisturizers, thickeners, preservatives, water and flavors and additive ingredients, etc., the main force of cleaning is friction agents, the main force of mothproofing is fluoride substances, the main force to maintain the quality of toothpaste is moisturizers, other is to assist, different toothpaste ingredients and additive ratios derive various types:
Enamel toothpaste – repairs tooth enamel, prevents decay and allergies.
Probiotic toothpaste – suitable for some patients with periodontal disease and no cause of dental caries can be found.
Baking soda toothpaste - improve the oral environment, more suitable for the elderly.
Whitening toothpaste – people who just need to whiten their teeth.
Amino acid toothpaste – suitable for people with sensitive gums.
Herbal toothpaste - adding a small amount of Chinese herbal ingredients, has a certain oral health care effect.
For a long time, many manufacturers regarded toothpaste as a "universal basket", and they wanted to pack everything into it. Some ingredients do play a positive role, but some ingredients cause side effects, typical of which are 3 substances that may cause cancer:
1. Triclosan
A low-toxicity broad-spectrum antibacterial agent, abbreviated as TCS, was originally used for antibacterial and dental protection, and is common in toothpaste, mouthwash and disinfectant. In the past two years, according to the study published in the international academic journal Nature Communications, through continuous animal testing and follow-up, it has been found that triclosan will disrupt the balance of the intestinal microbiota of experimental mice, and there are three problems:
One is that it may induce persistent enteritis, which in turn increases the chance of intestinal polyps and tumors.
One is that after long-term use is absorbed by the body, it may induce liver cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc.
One is to interfere with endocrine levels, which is especially unfriendly to women, and is prone to thyroid problems.
2. Titanium dioxide
A whitening agent, known as TiO2 in English, is not uncommon in toothpaste, cosmetics, and food. Since 2010, researchers in France and the United States have found two suspected side effects of titanium dioxide:
One is to interfere with blood sugar, which can cause type 2 diabetes.
One is that animal tests have found that up to 40% of the intestinal mucosa has precancerous lesions.
3. Benzalkonium chloride
An antibacterial and bacteriostatic agent, because of antistatic, anticortic, bacteriostatic effect is widely used, used in shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste, once used as an essential ingredient of toothpaste.
American studies have found that after animal tests, benzalkonium chloride can break the balance of intestinal flora, cause allergic reactions, even at low doses, can increase the risk of intestinal inflammation and tumors. WHO lists benzalkonium chloride as a Class 2B carcinogen.
Although triclosan, titanium dioxide, and benzalkonium chloride are only suspected to be carcinogenic in animal tests, it is not possible to determine whether they really have carcinogenic effects on the human body, but as chemicals that are in frequent contact with human organs for a long time, it is still necessary to be careful. Mainland requires that all ingredients must be marked on the packaging of the article, if you find these 3 ingredients when purchasing, pay attention to avoid, if the toothpaste at home has these ingredients, it is recommended to stop using and switching in time.
In addition, toothpaste as a necessity of life, some functions are exaggerated, some hidden dangers are covered, there are 6 things to pay attention to:
1, use toothpaste to treat dental diseases, dental diseases need to go to the regular dental clinic in time, rather than superstitious toothpaste effect, but also some people take the way of swallowing toothpaste to treat diseases, it is even more undesirable.
2, attracted by a variety of toothpaste functions, in fact, toothpaste is mainly teeth cleaning, glaze protection, anti-moth, many other functions are "concept version", especially net red toothpaste, many are IQ tax.
3. There are requirements for the fluoride content of toothpaste, too little to prevent moth, and too much to cause fluorosis. The mainland requires that the fluoride content of children's toothpaste is 0.05%-0.11%, and that of adults is 0.05%-0.14%.
4, a family of several people share a tube of toothpaste, each person's oral environment is different, sharing toothpaste increases the chance of cross-transmission of oral bacteria, it is best for everyone to use their own toothpaste, and children do not use adult toothpaste.
5, the higher the price of toothpaste, the better the more assured, in fact, the high price of toothpaste, does not equal good quality, some may contain carcinogenic ingredients, need to be carefully distinguished.
6. Only pay attention to toothpaste, and do not realize other tooth cleaning tools, such as electric toothbrushes, toothbrushes, dental floss, etc.