Luxury toothpastes: is it worth spending money on them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The cost of premium toothpastes can be up to 15,000 rubles. We find out how they differ from conventional means and whether the resulting effect is worth such a waste.

Just as there are elite brands of cosmetics, wines and clothing, premium-class products, including toothpastes, have long been developed for dental care. But are luxury toothpastes really better than a regular tube from a pharmacy or supermarket? Let's figure this out.

What are the pasta

All toothpastes, regardless of their price, are divided into four categories.

Therapeutic

They must have certain marketing authorizations and certifications, are prescribed by the dentist for medical purposes, and often include higher concentrations of ingredients. You can use such pastes only for a limited time and it is better not to "prescribe" them to yourself without consulting a doctor. They can be either premium or not.

Whitening

Pastes that contain abrasive substances that are more effective at cleaning plaque from the teeth than conventional products. Due to this, clarification is achieved. In premium pastes, aggressive abrasives are replaced by substances that are softer, but just as effective.

For sensitive teeth

These are pastes with a minimum of those components that cause pain during cleaning and discomfort. Many premium pastes fall into this category: their manufacturer focuses precisely on gentle cleaning.

Universal

Pastes that can be bought at any supermarket. While there are premium products in this category as well, most often universal pastes are inexpensive, precisely because they should be suitable for everyone.

What makes premium toothpastes different from ordinary ones?

Brands that produce products for dentists often develop lines of pastes, rinses, gels, and so on that are related to each other, so that the doctor can offer the patient the most complete set of oral care products. Manufacturers of mass production generally try to launch as many product lines as possible.

But the creators of luxury pastes almost never produce whole lines of premium products. On the contrary, they rely on a very small assortment, sometimes consisting of 2-3 products, but they position them as having exclusive properties.

The difference that almost all luxury pastes have in common is the presence in their composition of ingredients that are not found in conventional oral care products. It is they who determine the uniqueness of the premium paste formula and its high price.

To develop a formula with special components and ultimately obtain a luxury paste, the manufacturer must invest a lot in research, new scientific developments, and the selection of rather expensive ingredients. Although packaging design plays an important role in the creation of "pasta for the elite", in fact, the cost of such pastes is almost always determined by the costs of creating the product itself, with the lion's share of spending going to research. Especially if the manufacturer wants to use previously unused components in the paste.

For example, some companies are now developing premium pastes with included indicators of plaque on the teeth or special purple pigments, which, when combined with the enamel, give it a natural whiteness due to color contrast. This way it will be possible to whiten the teeth without aggressive abrasives.

At the same time, the development of a new formula is almost always accompanied by spending on registration of patents for innovations, as well as on clinical justifications, which must be provided by the manufacturer of the paste, obtaining certificates. A company that wants to obtain approval for a product must provide clinical evidence of all the properties of its paste.

What are the benefits of premium pastes?

The creation of new formulas and the use of unique ingredients has its own goal: the paste must have a number of properties that distinguish it from mass-market products.

Enamel strengthening and gentle cleaning

The paste may contain hydroxyapatites. It is actually artificial tooth enamel, which is resistant to the acids that constantly build up in our mouths. The presence of hydroxyapatite strengthens natural enamel, protects it from acid damage, and helps to care for hypersensitive teeth.

Hypersensitivity often makes it difficult to brush your teeth properly, as a person with such a problem experiences pain when brushing. In addition to hydroxyapatite, theobromine, which is obtained from the extract of cocoa beans, helps to cope with this. It protects against caries and also strengthens the enamel, has antibacterial properties. Some manufacturers claim that theobromine can replace fluorides in its properties - more on that in the next paragraph.

Fluoride and fluoride replacement

Another property that distinguishes a number of premium pastes is the absence of fluorine and fluorides in the composition. Fluoride and its derivatives are essential for caries prevention. In small quantities, it increases the resistance of the enamel to the destructive effects of acids, and fluorides increase its strength and density.

But excess fluoride can cause allergies and negatively affect the thyroid, nervous and cardiovascular systems. Plus, too much fluoride causes fluorosis, a disease that stains your teeth. For someone with fluorosis, theobromine pastes are an excellent fluoride-free alternative.

Special care for implants

Dental implantation is becoming an increasingly popular method of restoring lost teeth. For people who have at least one implant, such premium pastes are created that help in the engraftment of the implant, reduce the risk of its rejection, and improve the condition of the gums.

Such pastes, despite their high cost, are created for daily care. They can contain, for example, oxygen in high concentration, which destroys even anaerobic bacteria, and the enzyme lactoferin. Such products stimulate the regeneration of cells of the mucous membranes and gums, activate local immunity, which is very important in the first months after the installation of the implant.

Also, such luxury pastes are characterized by extremely low abrasiveness, that is, they do not contain components that harshly affect the teeth and lead to the risk of abrasion of the enamel. At the same time, the pastes do an excellent job with discoloration (the formation of stains on the teeth) and pigmentation - precisely due to the mild effect of enzymes and oxygen.

Are there any fake premium pastes

This is a logical question: after all, luxury perfumes, wines and clothes are forged, so why not produce fakes of expensive pastes? Moreover, the price of such pastes can reach 15 thousand rubles.

Basically, the risk of buying fake premium toothpaste is low: simply because luxury toothpastes are less well-known than brands of clothing, shoes, or wine. Accordingly, such pastes are bought much less often than status accessories and gourmet products. But still, if there is a desire to purchase just a premium paste, then it is best to do it in stores specializing in professional oral care products, or in the official sales offices of the manufacturer or his representative.