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Toothpaste Reviews and Buying Guide:To determine just which brands of toothpaste were the best, Consumer Reports did a study back in 1998 with 38 of the best selling toothpaste products on the market. 30 of those toothpastes were rated "excellent" which tells you most people will probably be fine with any brand they choose. Fluoride is included in almost all toothpaste sold in the United States and definitely has helped cut back on tooth decay. Toothpastes contain pretty much the same ingredients with different levels of fluoride and ingredients to control inflamed gums or tooth sensitivity. The tooth whitening effects of toothpastes is still under the microscope and will be discussed below. There is really only so many ways to market toothpaste and we hear all the time that you will "get a brighter smile" or "have whiter teeth", but most of those claims go unproven when an independent review company steps in to see what consumers really think. I personally treat toothpaste like I do my shampoo - I switch the brand I use each time I buy a new one. That way I'm assured of giving my teeth a variety of toothpaste products that claim to do "good things" for my teeth.
I personally have no preference to toothpaste brands after trying about twenty over my lifetime. I guess we are all drawn to particular brands - two of the most popular are Crest or Aquafresh. There are specialized toothpastes for children that tend to have higher fluoride contents and some toothpastes are made for people with sensitive teeth (described below). Probably the most important ingredient in any toothpaste for people of all ages is an antigingivitis agent which will help reduce plaque and gum swelling/bleeding. Your mouth is full of bacteria and germs, many of which are beneficial to breaking down foods for digestion, but others can effect the health of your teeth and gums. That being said, most toothpastes have all the same gum and tooth decay fighting ingredients so whatever brand you choose should be fine. Consumer Reports gives Colgate Total the top rating of all toothpastes and so do the American Dental Association (AMA) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). You can go to sites like Amazon.com or Drugstore.com to see what consumers are saying about toothpaste, but from most studies done, it's personal preference to the flavoring of the toothpastes that keeps people buying. Toothpastes are sold in all major stores and cost about $3 for an 8 oz tube. Some of the more expensive types like Sensodyne run $5 for just a 4 ounce tube. As we mentioned, Colgate Total is recommended by more dentists, experts and government agencies than any other brand. Colgate Total has Triclosan (an antibacterial ingredient) which helps fight gum disease and it also contains Gantrez which keeps the Triclosan working on your teeth even between brushings. The FDA does say that kids under 6 should not use this product. Another product from Colgate that gets great reviews is the Colgate Baking Soda and Peroxide Whitening with Tartar Control ($3). This one does work on kids 2 and over and it's overall cleaning ability is even better than Colgate Total, but it does lack the Triclosan which sets Colgate Total apart from other brands. The baking soda and peroxide combination can be distasteful to some and some dentists even go so far as to say that excessive brushing with a baking soda based toothpaste can lead to gum damage. Perhaps mixing it up with various toothpastes is the way to go (as I mentioned above). RECOMMENDED - We suggest shopping online at Amazon.com since they carry all the leading brands and often have the lowest prices on the web. You can browse their top selling toothpaste online here  .
Toothpaste Coupons and Samples:From our research online with toothpastes, we found that people search every day for free samples of toothpaste or are looking for toothpaste coupons online they can print out and redeem at the store when they purchase toothpaste. We scoured the major sites that handle toothpaste and came up with some good links below for savings:
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- it is considered a whitening toothpaste but owners also say it helps immensely with canker sores.
- the "active ingredient" which supposedly helps reduce teeth sensitivity is potassium nitrate. Sensodyne toothpaste is only for people 12 and over. In major studies on tooth sensitivity, no conclusions have been drawn as to if potassium nitrate works in the long run. I guess us consumers have no choice but to try products and see which ones work best for us. Other sensitive toothpaste products are Arm & Hammer Advance White for Sensitive Teeth, Crest Pro Health Toothpaste, Crest Sensitivity Protection Toothpaste, Rembrandt Sensitive Teeth toothpaste, and 
which is a natural choice for people with sensitive teeth. Again, toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth is definitely more expensive than traditional toothpastes.