How to Choose a Toothpaste

Forty tubes on the pharmacy shelf, and almost every one of them says "complete protection". Just four questions help you make sense of it all. Go through them in order — and the shelf will narrow down to two or three options.

Start with the task, not the shelf

A toothpaste is not a universal product but a tool for a specific task. Put yours into a single phrase: gums bleed when brushing · teeth ache from cold · enamel darkens from coffee and cigarettes · cavities appear frequently · bad breath is a concern · everything is fine, just need prevention.

If you have several tasks, that is normal. They can be covered either by one paste with a combined formula or by a "one in the morning, another in the evening" scheme.

Check the fluoride — and its amount

Fluoride is the only toothpaste ingredient whose anti-caries effect is confirmed by systematic reviews. According to a Cochrane review, toothpaste with a fluoride content of 1000 ppm or more reduces caries increment by about 23% compared with fluoride-free paste. Below 1000 ppm there is no convincing effect.

For an adult, the benchmark is 1350–1500 ppm. Look for the number on the packaging: it is given as "ppm F" or "1450 ppm". For children the dosage is different and depends on age — more on that below.

Look at the RDA — abrasiveness

RDA shows how actively a paste removes plaque. The higher the number, the better it copes with stains — and the more careful you need to be with your enamel. The safe range for daily brushing is up to 100.

Highly abrasive whitening pastes (RDA 120–139) are a short-course product, not an everyday paste. With exposed tooth necks and sensitivity you need the opposite — a minimum: RDA 25–50.

Read the composition — and pay attention to surfactants

SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) is the most common foaming agent. It is safe, but in some people it irritates the mucosa: if you are bothered by dry mouth or often get aphthous ulcers, choose pastes with mild surfactants — Poloxamer 188, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine.

Then look at the active ingredients: they are what determines whether the paste will solve your task.

The RDA scale: where your paste sits

The same brand may produce pastes with RDA 25 and RDA 139 — these are different tools, not "weaker and stronger".

050100150

RDA range	Who it suits	How often
25–50 low	Sensitive teeth, exposed tooth necks, enamel erosion	Daily, ongoing
50–100 medium	Healthy enamel, daily care, gum protection	Daily, ongoing
100–120 elevated	Prone to pigmented plaque	Daily, if enamel is healthy
120–140 high	Stubborn stains: coffee, tea, tobacco	In short courses, not continuously

A common mistake. Using a whitening paste with RDA 139 as your only paste — for years. It really does lighten teeth by removing pigmented plaque, but with constant use the abrasive works on the enamel as well. The right scheme is a course, with a regular paste of RDA up to 100 between courses.

What to look for in the composition for your task

Task	What should be in the composition	LACALUT line
Bleeding gums	Antiseptic + astringent component (aluminium lactate)	Aktiv
Sensitivity	Potassium salts, hydroxyapatite, low RDA	Sensitive
Enamel darkening	Enzymes or pyrophosphates, controlled RDA	White
Cavity protection	Fluoride 1450–1500 ppm, ideally in two forms	Anticaries
Bad breath	Zinc compounds, essential oils	Flora
Prevention	Fluoride + calcium phosphate components	Multi-Effect

What if you have several tasks?

The most common combination is sensitivity plus bleeding gums. It occurs with gum recession: the root becomes exposed, the tooth reacts to cold, and the gum is inflamed. One paste rarely covers this; the working scheme is a paste for sensitive teeth in the morning and one for gums in the evening, as a course.

The second common pair is wanting to whiten with sensitive enamel. Here it is important not to take a paste with RDA 139: lightening is possible even at RDA 30 — through enzymes rather than abrasives.

What a toothpaste cannot do. It will not change the natural colour of your enamel (it only removes plaque on top of it), will not replace professional cleaning and will not cure existing cavities. A toothpaste is daily prevention, and in that role it works better than any other product.

Toothpaste is a cosmetic product (TR CU 009/2011). This information is for reference purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice.