The clinical term “non-carious loss of tooth structure” describes the loss of dental integrity for causes not associated with cavities or decay. One of these causes is abrasion during brushing by tooth paste and hard bristle brushes.

The advantages of thoroughly cleaning your teeth every day cannot be properly measured. You get to keep your teeth, fresh breath, better overall health, and a beautiful smile, just to name a few…

However, the combination of highly abrasive toothpaste, “whitening” products, hard bristle brushes, and the tendency of some people to brush harder and longer in an effort to achieve a brighter, whiter smile has led to this fairly common problem seen by dentists today. People wearing away their own teeth.

To help avoid this problem:  1. Use a soft or ultra-soft bristle tooth brush. 2. Avoid toothpaste that is abrasive: Usually anything labeled “whitening” is very abrasive since whitening toothpastes rely on silicate particles to scrub the staining away. 3. Don’t brush too hard. A gentle but thorough cleaning is best.

Below is a list of popular toothpaste with their RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasivity) values. Every FDA approved toothpaste is evaluated and assigned a value on the scale of Relative Dentin Abrasivity. The FDA and ADA regard 200 as the harmful limit for toothpaste abrasiveness. To avoid damage to your teeth try and use products on the low end of the scale .

The RDA table:

0-70 =low abrasive   70-100=medium abrasive       100-150 highly abrasive   150-250=can be harmfully abrasive

Toothpaste                                RDA value                   Toothpaste                                RDA value

Plain water + toothbrush                 04                         Tom’s of Maine Regular                 93

Plain baking soda                            07                         Rembrandt Plus                             94

Arm & Hammer Tooth Powder         08                         Crest Regular                                95

Arm & Hammer Dental Care           35                          Natural White                                101

Squiggle Enamel Saver                   44                         Arm & Hammer Sensation            103

Oxyfresh                                           45                         Sensodyne Extra Whitening         104

Arm & Hammer  Sensitive               48                          Colgate Platinum                          106

Tom’s of Maine Sensitive                 49                          Arm & Ham. Adv. Wh. Paste         106

Arm & Ham. Peroxicare Reg.          52                          Crest Sensitivity                            107

Rembrandt Original                          53                         Colgate Herbal                               110

Arm & Ham.  PM Bold Mint              54                          Aquafresh Whitening                     113

Tom’s of Maine                                 57                         Arm & Ham. Adv White Gel            117

Supersmile                                       62                          Arm & Ham. Tarter Control             117

Rembrandt Mint                               63                          Close Up with Baking Soda            120

Colgate Regular                               68                          Colgate Whitening                          124

Children’s Colgate                            68                          Crest Extra Whitening                     130

Colgate Total                                     68                          Ultra Brite Crest                             133

Arm & Ham. Adv. Wh. Sensitive       70                          Crest Multicare whitening               144

Colgate 2 in I Fresh Mint                  70                           Ultra Brite Adv. White                     145

Sensodyne                                        79                          Pepsodent                                       150

AIM                                                    80                          Colgate Tartar Control                    165

Tooth and Gum care                          83                          Colgate Luminous                            175

Colgate Sensitive Max. Str.                83                         Colgate 2 in 1 Tartar control             200

Strength Aquafresh Sensitive            91                           Natural White Beverly Hills              220