How safe is your tooth paste?

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Here in India we find advertisement about various kinds of tooth pastes, tooth powders and tooth brushes. Menthol is one of the ingredients of most tooth pastes; it gives the minty note to our breath after brushing. Another ingredient is, saccharin, this gives the sweet taste to your paste, it is considered “safe” to ingest today. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Titanium Dioxide, though it’s usually found in white paint. When added to toothpaste, titanium dioxide has the safe effect on your teeth as it does on walls. This keeps them nice and white, for a few hours, at least. Ingesting titanium dioxide won't hurt you, but it isn't recommended either. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Chalk. It’s hard enough to remove all of that caked on gunk from your pearly whites. Chalk dust may cause lung problems if inhaled, and swallowing a bit of chalk could cause bleeding. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Glycerin Glycol; this is added to toothpaste in order to prevent the paste from becoming too dry – it’s also found in antifreeze. Even though glycerin is not toxic, this additive may cause nausea if swallowed. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Paraffin; this creates a smooth paste that oozes onto your toothbrush. As you might imagine, paraffin wasn't meant to be eaten. If you happen to swallow this ingredient, you may end up with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and severe constipation. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Peppermint Oil; breath can only be kept fresh with the help of peppermint oil! While refreshing when brushing your teeth, peppermint oil can cause a slow pulse, heartburn, and muscle tremors if it is consumed. Another ingredient is, Seaweed, it holds that paste together. Without this green stuff, toothpaste would simply fall apart. It is not toxic. In fact, seaweed has a number of nutritional benefits. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Detergent; it gives that satisfying soapy feeling? Many manufacturers use regular detergent in order to appease the masses that prefer bubbly toothpaste. Be careful if you accidentally ingest a large amount of this stuff – swallowing detergent can cause digestive tract burning. Another common toothpaste ingredient is Formaldehyde. This kills all of those small bacteria that climb onto your teeth after eating or sleeping. If a large amount of formaldehyde is accidentally ingested, the result could be fatal. Severe formaldehyde ingestion results in jaundice, kidney damage, liver damage, and death. Hope you find this information useful as usual. [b]Do you use tooth paste or tooth powder. How many times you brush your tooth. I use an herbal tooth powder first, massage over the gums, this keeps my gum healthy. Next I brush teeth using a good tooth paste, medium hardness tooth brush and clean my tongues using a tongue scrapper of stainless steel. Share your opinion.[/b] Professor