The Toothpaste an Apgujeong Dentist Would Never Use, and the One Recommended Instead

Hello.

This is Blanche Dental Clinic, here to help protect your oral health.

When you choose toothpaste, what do you base your decision on?

At the supermarket, do you ever use it without thinking because it’s on a “1+1” promotion,

because you’ve always used it,

or because it was included in a gift set?

Toothpaste is something you put in your mouth three times a day, every day, for your entire life.

But what if the toothpaste we use so casually contains ingredients that wear down your gums, dry out your mouth, and even cause bad breath?

Today, at Blanche Dental Clinic in Apgujeong, we’ll talk about the three characteristics of toothpaste we would never use even if we were paid to, and on the flip side, the criteria for toothpaste we recommend.

After reading this, go to the bathroom and check the back of the toothpaste you’re using (the ingredient list).

If it contains any of the ingredients mentioned below,

you should seriously consider switching!

1. Toothpaste We Absolutely Do Not Use

Not all toothpaste is the same.

Choosing the wrong toothpaste can cause tooth wear and dry mouth that are even more serious than cavities.

Toothpaste containing “synthetic surfactants (SLS)”

After brushing, have you ever eaten tangerines or fruit and felt that the taste was bitter or strange? That’s due to sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a synthetic surfactant.

This ingredient creates rich foam in toothpaste, making it easier to clean, but it has a critical drawback.

It temporarily numbs the taste buds on your tongue and denatures proteins in the mouth, essentially dissolving the thin protective layer inside your mouth (the mucosa).

If you use toothpaste containing synthetic surfactants for a long time, the mucosa loses its protective layer and becomes vulnerable to external irritation, causing mouth ulcers to occur frequently and heal poorly.

It dries out the mouth severely (dry mouth), creating an environment where bacteria can thrive, which in turn becomes a cause of severe bad breath.

An excessive abrasive, like rubbing your teeth with sandpaper

“Does whitening toothpaste make your teeth white?”

That is half true and half false.

Some whitening toothpastes or plaque-removal toothpastes are overly abrasive.

Toothpaste contains tiny particles (abrasives) that remove stains from the tooth surface, but if the abrasiveness level (RDA) is too high, the result is as if you were rubbing your teeth with sandpaper every day.

Your teeth become yellower?

When enamel (the white outer shell of the tooth) is worn away, the yellow dentin underneath becomes visible.

You used it to make your teeth look whiter, but instead your teeth may end up looking more yellow.

A result that does the opposite of what you wanted.

Once enamel is worn away, it never regenerates. As the protective layer becomes thinner, you may have to live with sensitivity to cold water or wind for the rest of your life.

A war without a shield: fluoride-free/low-fluoride toothpaste

Recently, some adults have been looking for fluoride-free toothpaste because of chemical ingredients. But from a dentist’s perspective, it is like going into battle without clothes on.

Our mouth becomes acidic every time we eat, and the teeth repeatedly undergo a process of gradually dissolving and then being remineralized by substances in saliva.

Without fluoride at that time, the process of re-hardening the teeth slows down significantly.

For cavity prevention in adults, fluoride is essential, and toothpaste without fluoride or with too little fluoride can be considered to offer almost no protection against cavities.

2. The Criteria for “Truly Good Toothpaste” Recommended by an Apgujeong Dentist

So what kind of toothpaste should you use?

In fact, it’s really hard to find a product on the market that meets all of these strict criteria.

But because each tooth is a precious asset worth more than 30 million won, we strongly recommend checking the three ingredient criteria below before buying.

Use natural surfactants derived from coconut, etc.

It’s okay if it doesn’t foam as much.

To protect the mucosa inside your mouth, choose a product that uses natural surfactants (foaming agents) derived from plants such as coconut instead of synthetic surfactants (SLS).

Even after brushing, your mouth stays moist rather than drying out, and fruit tastes the same as it should.

If dry mouth is relieved, bad breath when you wake up in the morning is also significantly reduced.

High fluoride content of 1,450 ppm

Why should it be high in fluoride?

Our teeth are made of a substance called hydroxyapatite. When high-concentration fluoride penetrates it, the tooth effectively changes into an entirely new, much stronger protective armor.

Normal teeth start to dissolve at pH 5.5, but teeth strengthened with fluoride can withstand acidity down to pH 4.5.

That is only a difference of 1.0 on paper, but in reality it means the resistance to acid is about 10 times stronger.

Very small early cavities can re-harden simply by using high-fluoride toothpaste, and it also interferes with the metabolic activity of cavity-causing bacteria, suppressing their growth.

Ingredients that inhibit staining and strengthen teeth

(SHMP & HAP)

Do you like coffee, wine, or ramen?

The foods we enjoy often stain teeth yellow.

Instead of abrasives that simply wear the tooth down, look for ingredients that chemically inhibit staining and help rebuild the tooth.

· SHMP (sodium hexametaphosphate):

Forms a coating on the tooth surface to prevent pigments from settling. It’s the secret to keeping teeth white without wearing them down.

· Hydroxyapatite (HAP):

This is the same substance as teeth. It fills in tiny gaps in the tooth surface caused by damage, making the surface smooth and strong.

Today, we shared the toothpaste selection tips that Blanche Dental Clinic actually emphasizes to patients. How was it?

To summarize the toothpaste recommended by an Apgujeong dentist:

If you calculate the cost or value of one tooth in terms of an implant, people say it is worth more than 10 million won.

Since we have 28 teeth in our mouths, you already have assets worth hundreds of millions of won.

To protect this precious asset, one of the five great blessings of life, please stop using just any toothpaste from today and develop the wise habit of carefully checking the ingredients!

For your healthy oral care, Blanche Dental Clinic in Apgujeong will always be with you.

Thank you.

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Blanche Dental Clinic Chief Director Kim Tae-hyung
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