Buying toothpaste should be one of the least stressful things you do in your daily life. But the choices nowadays can make this simple task overwhelming, like you need a degree in biochemistry to make a good choice. Tartar-control or whitening? Gingivitis-fighting or enamel-protecting? With baking soda and peroxide, or without? With "natural" ingredients, or with the newest antibacterial agent? And do you really need fluoride?

Do you want blue, green, white, red or striped? Peppermint, spearmint, coolmint, freshmint, cinnamint? Gel, paste, liquid, cream or powder?

It’s enough to confuse even dentists. "I walk into the toothpaste aisle and I’m overwhelmed – and I know about the ingredients," said Dr. Linda Niessen, consumer advisor for the American Dental Association, in Consumer Reports magazine. How much of the "new" tooth-cleaning technology is just marketing hype?

In their August, 1998 issue, Consumer Reports shared their evaluation of 39 toothpaste's. Dental researchers and the ADA also provided input. From this, we’ve garnered practical information that will help you find the best toothpaste for you. We’ll also give you CR’s top-rated toothpaste's.

Toothpaste – a job description

A toothpaste’s main function is to clean your teeth, without being too rough or "abrasive." It should also fight plaque – that sticky film of bacteria and saliva that settles and wreaks havoc on your teeth and gums in the form of decay and gum disease. If it’s allowed to hang out on your teeth, plaque will harden into a tough, yellowish, bacteria-laden coating called tartar.
Once on your teeth, the only way to get rid of tartar is to have it professionally removed.

Note: some people, because of their body chemistry, poor dental hygiene, or a combination of the two, accumulate tartar more rapidly than others.
If you think you fall into this category, try a tartar-control toothpaste.

Cavity Combat

As it cleans, toothpaste should also battle cavities, and the only thing that will do that – at least for now - is fluoride. Fluoride is actually somewhat of a miracle worker; when plaque is pummeling your teeth with decay-causing bacteria, fluoride combines with minerals in your saliva to reenter your tooth and shore up any damage.

The ADA recommends that you start with a moderately abrasive toothpaste, since these clean teeth better than low and very low abrasives. Among the top-rated moderately-abrasive toothpaste's were:

Colgate Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening with Tartar Control ($0.75 a month)

Ultra Brite Advanced Whitening ($.46 a month, and rated a "CR Best Buy)

Colgate Platinum Whitening ($3.16 a month)

Crest Extra Whitening with Tartar Protection ($.97 a month) - the only whitening toothpaste to date that has received the ADA Seal of Approval

All were rated "excellent" for both cleaning and quick fluoride release.

Need less "oomph?"

Even the best of the "low abrasive" toothpaste's were only rated "very good" in cleaning. When should you choose a low-abrasion toothpaste instead of a more efficient, moderately abrasive one? If your gums have receded. In that case, more of the sensitive dentin is exposed. Here are CR’s top picks in the low-abrasion category:

Colgate Tartar Control Baking Soda & Peroxide ($.74 a month)

Listerine Cool Mint Tartar Control ($.96 a month)

Aquafresh Tartar Control ($.65 a month)

Colgate Cavity Protection Gel ($.70 a month)

Crest Cavity Protection Regular ($.72 a month)

Aquafresh Whitening ($1.71 a month)

Mentadent Fresh Mint ($1.46 a month)

Viadent Wintermint ($1.57 a month)

To maximize the effectiveness of your favorite toothpaste, it’s important that you brush correctly for at least two minutes.
And if a toothpaste causes any irritation or sensitivity in your mouth, stop using it and give your dentist a call.