Three Ingredients from a

Three Ingredients from a Household Product

Tom’s Orange Mango Toothpaste

            What is one household product you use every day? Toothpaste, of course. Have you ever wondered what was inside of your toothpaste? I use the Tom’s brand, and I looked at the orange mango gel toothpaste to see all the different ingredients. This toothpaste contains ten different ingredients, I didn’t know that.

            One of the ingredients that I looked at was sodium fluoride, which is the active ingredient in the toothpaste. Sodium fluoride helps prevent tooth damage, and helps minimize the risk for cavities. Also, it helps tooth enamel, and possible spots of decay. Sodium fluoride is made from fluorspar (calcium fluoride) which is an ore.

            Another ingredient found in Tom’s orange mango gel toothpaste was sodium lauryl sulfate. It is supposed to release ingredients when brushing your teeth. It also makes sure it is easy to rinse your mouth out after brushing. Sodium lauryl sulfate comes from coconuts and/ or palm kernel oil, which is a natural foaming agent.

A third ingredient in the toothpaste is xanthan gum. When used in toothpaste it is supposed to thicken and gel the toothpaste. It comes from the bacterium xanathomonas campestris, which comes from vegetables or vegetable matter (beets or corn syrup). Later this bacterium combines with a gum, which produces xanthan gum.

            I never knew what ingredients were in my toothpaste that I used every day. It makes you think what is in other products we use every day.

S. G. Magdziarz