“Anything that relates to water quality, removing contaminants, things like that, we’re not touching that,” Tuck [the bill sponsor] said. “It’s anything that has to do with health. So fluoride, vitamins, whatever else it is.”
“Anything that relates to water quality, removing contaminants, things like that, we’re not touching that,” Tuck [the bill sponsor] said. “It’s anything that has to do with health. So fluoride, vitamins, whatever else it is.”
So, digging through those articles, I immediately have some concerns.
The first study, funded by toothpaste manufacturers, found no statistically significant difference between random people who may or may not use proper brushing technique being handed a dry brush with no dentifrice and being handed a wet brushing with no dentifrice. The second study was a meta-analysis of other trials that also has the same problems: brushing technique was not a controlled variable, and all tested dentifrices contained SLS.
The big problem is that a lot of toothpastes contain surfactants like SLS or CAPB, which cause the toothpaste to foam and leave behind a smooth effect which is confusing to people. People specifically using a foaming dentifrice have a harder time discerning whether or not they’ve done an adequate job of removing plaque, hence the statistically insignificant but measurable difference in plaque removal between dry brushing without a dentifrice and wet brushing with one.
This definitely needs some more study we’re never going to get because of capitalism.
I would argue that the issue with brushing technique is not relevant to the effectiveness study. Normal people are going to vary in technique. Controlling too strictly for technique does not realistically tell us which is more or less effective in practice. Likewise, we can’t assume the toothpaste users where on average less effective or more effective than the toothpaste nonusers. Like I said, studies keep reinforcing this conclusion. At this point it’s more than reasonable to assume the conclusion that toothpaste doesn’t help with actual brushing is a pretty secure position.