The Bad Breath Blog

Toothpaste Basics and Commonly Available Options

Toothpaste or dentifrice refers to a substance, such as a paste, gel or powder, used for cleaning and polishing teeth. Dentifrice is the most commonly used consumer product for maintaining the aesthetics and health of teeth in children and adults (1, 4). It has multiple functions, including removing plaque, limiting halitosis and  applying fluoride to the tooth structure.

Certain active ingredients in toothpaste also impede tooth disease and gingivitis (1, 4). Used in conjunction with a toothbrush, toothpaste enhances the mechanics of brushing, cleaning and polishing with a toothbrush and enables it to reach accessible teeth surfaces (1, 4).

The History of Toothpaste

Research suggests the ancient Egyptians began using toothpaste for oral hygiene around 5000 BC. At nearly the same time, Roman and Greek residents started using toothpaste. Around 500 BC, the populace occupying the regions of India and China also gravitated to the practice of using dentifrice. Like modern humankind, these people used the earliest forms of toothpastes for cleaning their teeth and gums, and eliminating halitosis.

The ingredients in early toothpastes differ from culture to culture. The Egyptians used a combination of  ingredients, including burnt eggshells, ox hooves’ ashes and water. Various powdered mixtures prevailed up to the early 1800s. The modern era of toothpastes began when soap was added to the product, giving it a paste form.

In the 1850s, consumers could buy toothpaste packaged in jars; Colgate started this method of packaging its product in 1873. In the 1890s, Colgate transitioned to selling toothpaste in tin/lead tubes– similar to the toothpaste dispensers used today.

In 1914, manufacturers started adding fluoride to toothpaste. During World War II, a shortage of lead/tin, and leakage of the metal alloy into toothpaste, caused a switch to plastic tubes. Soap remained an ingredient in toothpaste up to 1945. Subsequently, it was replaced with sodium lauryl sulfate.

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If you’ve never given halitosis much thought, it’s time for you to start. While having bad breath may not seem like a big deal, it can do more than isolate you from your friends and repel
potential dates. Oral odor may also indicate poor dental hygiene. Regardless of what is causing your bad breath, TheraBreath is here to treat it.

When it comes to getting rid of bad breath, Americans spare no expense. After all, the best estimates about the prevalence of oral odor indicate that, at any one time, between one-quarter and one-half of all adults have halitosis.

Yikes! Makes you want to avoid crowded elevators.

How much do adults spend in the pursuit of fresh breath? A study published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association stated that in 1969, Americans spent $250 million on getting rid of bad breath – by 2011, that figure has risen significantly. Estimates vary, but most experts suggest that between $500 million and $5 billion is spent annually on eliminating halitosis.

That’s quite a chunk of change. However, you don’t have to spend a lot in order to have fresh breath. With TheraBreath, you can get a whiter smile and halitosis-free breath in days, thanks to our all-natural, mouth-moistening, oxygenating specialty products.

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If you’ve been wondering about the future of bad breath treatment, then look no further than TheraBreath’s BLIS Probiotics. These cutting-edge halitosis
therapies do what no other breath freshener can, which is to naturally limit your mouth’s ability to produce bad breath.

How do they do it? The key is a pair of carefully cultivated microbial strains that  gradually force odor-causing bacteria out of your mouth. This makes our probiotics the next generation in halitosis-fighting technology.

Here’s how it works.

Your mouth is brimming with bacteria, many of which are essentially harmless. According to the latest scientific estimates, you have more than 600 different species of microorganisms in your mouth, accounting for billions of individual bacteria.

A few of these species are real stinkers. Called anaerobic bacteria, they thrive in a
relatively dry environment. When your mouth gets parched, these microbes go to
town on the food particles on your tongue and between your teeth. They emit the
odor molecules that give halitosis its bad smell, and they also contribute to cavities and gum disease.

Here’s where BLIS Probiotics come in handy. Our probiotics products contain two healthy strains of bacteria, called Streptococcus salivarius M12 and K18. These species do two things that naturally limit your bad breath.

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