jebert
December 15, 2004, 5:31pm
1
I have noticed that the active ingredient listed on Crest and some of the higher priced brand packages is sodium flouride. On most of the cheaper brands the active ingredient is sodium monoflourophosphate.
What is the difference between these ingredients, and is one any more effective than the other?
One will cause you to suffer a horrible painful death, and the other will cure anything from cancer to scrofula.
Tune in tonight at 10, when we’ll tell you which is which!
jebert
December 16, 2004, 6:17pm
3
I was really hoping for a more factual answer.
I’m sure there are some dentists or chemists out there in Doperland who could provide it.
CurtC
December 16, 2004, 6:35pm
4
I don’t know the difference, but the spelling is fluo ride.
CurtC
December 16, 2004, 6:38pm
5
From http://www.aquafresh.co.uk/oral_care/courses/fluoride.html :
Sodium monofluorophosphate is the active ingredient of most UK pastes, alone or in combination with sodium fluoride. The active species in sodium monofluorophosphate is the soluble fluorophosphate ion and the free fluoride ion. When sodium fluoride is dissolved in water all the fluoride is in the form of free fluoride ions. In toothpastes that incorporate calcium carbonate (chalk) as a polishing ingredient (e.g. Aquafresh and Macleans regular pastes) sodium monofluorophosphate has to be used. Sodium fluoride cannot be used as the fluoride source in calcium carbonate toothpastes because free fluoride ions react with the calcium ions forming an insoluble salt, rendering the fluoride unavailable for anti-caries action in the mouth.
Sodium fluoride is not compatible with calcium compounds, but with the advent of hydrated silica (an alternative polishing agent to calcium carbonate), the use of sodium fluoride as a simple fluoride source is now possible and quite common.