Dental Abrasion
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