# Why can't I buy a quart-size toothpaste dispenser?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 26, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319 "2008-08-26T16:17:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Broken\_Hoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broken_Hoe)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/1 "2008-08-26T16:17:33Z")
It’s so wasteful and inconvenient to buy toothpaste in those 7 oz tubes. We go through at least one a week and are constantly running out.
Why can’t I buy a big pump dispenser that holds the equivalent of say, 10 or 20 tubes? Or even better, a wall-mounted one!
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### Author:  [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/2 "2008-08-26T16:25:26Z")
I think it is because most people don’t use nearly as much toothpaste as you do. A tube will last me at least 6 months. Have you tried shopping at BJs, Costco, or Sam’s Club?
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/3 "2008-08-26T16:26:48Z")
One thought: The stuff doesn’t last forever.
My brother-in-law worked at one of the big toothpaste manufacturers and he gave me a few cases of it. Things were fine for the first dozen tubes and then one day I opened a fresh tube and watched in disgust as it dribbled out an obscene-appearing white milky substance that had separated out.
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### Author:  [@A2Steve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A2Steve)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/4 "2008-08-26T16:29:58Z")
I would guess lack of demand and the complexity of the pump. Toothpaste is too thick to pump like a soap dispenser, you’d end up with something more like a big caulking gun.
Do you have a large family? I use maybe a tube every 6 months so I can’t say I’d get any economy of scale from a larger tube.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/5 "2008-08-26T16:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=StinkyBurrito]
I think it is because most people don’t use nearly as much toothpaste as you do.
[/QUOTE]
What he said. Most people buy one tube per family member, not one for the whole family. (And even then, you all must use a honking lot of paste or brush an excessive number of times a day unless you have 26 kids.)
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### Author:  [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/6 "2008-08-26T18:27:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat]
Most people buy one tube per family member, not one for the whole family.
[/QUOTE]
Not in any family that I’ve known… unless there was a member with a special dental need. Until recently, we had 2 tubes, one for the adults, and one for the 3yo Butlerette.
Now we have one regular tube, and we all use it.
For what it’s worth, for a regular size family, if you’re using a tube a week, you’re using too much paste. [You only need a blob the size of a pea.](http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/green-toothpaste.html) The image shown in commercials, and on the package, with the long solid application, with fancy swirls on the end is WAY too much toothpaste, but the marketing folks WANT you to use more… In fact, [TOO much](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzette-standring/too-much-toothpaste-damag_b_110419.html) is as much of a problem as too little. The paste is really only used as an abrasive, which helps get some of the flouride into the enamel.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/7 "2008-08-26T18:42:50Z")
[QUOTE=butler1850]
Not in any family that I’ve known… unless there was a member with a special dental need.
[/QUOTE]
Same here. It’s always been one tube of toothpaste growing up, and now we have 2 1/2 adults in the house, we still only have one tube. I have no idea how long it takes us to get through a tube, but I’d guess somewhere between six and eight weeks.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/8 "2008-08-26T18:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=Broken Hoe]
It’s so wasteful and inconvenient to buy toothpaste in those 7 oz tubes. We go through at least one a week and are constantly running out.
[/QUOTE]
:eek: Seriously, do you have 20+ members in your family or what? It takes us _months_ to go through a tube of toothpaste. Even when it’s all flat and looks empty there’s at least a week left in it, easily.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/9 "2008-08-26T18:59:00Z")
You could stop buying the sample/travel-sized packages
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/10 "2008-08-26T19:01:05Z")
It will last longer if you reduce the number of teeth to brush, and/or your brushing schedule.
No comment as to the consequences of said action.
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### Author:  [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/11 "2008-08-26T19:21:56Z")
Either the OP is using WAY to much toothpaste, or the OP is Michelle Duggar (which may explain the user name).
At any rate, you can get bulk pack of toothpaste, but it’s just multiples of the 6-8 oz tubes. There is expiration dates to be concerned about, and the manufacturers must have decided that the current zie is about what people will go through in a reasonable time.
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### Author:  [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/12 "2008-08-26T19:25:58Z")
A tube a week? Wow our family of five might go through a tube a month, if that. Like others have said you are probably using too much. That being said, you can buy 4 packs at Sam’s Club.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/13 "2008-08-26T19:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=jk1245]
Either the OP is using WAY to much toothpaste, or the OP is Michelle Duggar (which may explain the user name).
[/QUOTE]
😃😃😃
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/14 "2008-08-26T20:04:59Z")
Your last name wouldn’t happen to be “Osmond,” would it?
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/15 "2008-08-26T21:59:50Z")
[QUOTE=A2Steve]
I would guess lack of demand and the complexity of the pump. Toothpaste is too thick to pump like a soap dispenser, you’d end up with something more like a big caulking gun.
[/QUOTE]
Mentadent pumps like a soap dispenser, but alas, their big size is only 10.5 ounces.
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### Author:  [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/16 "2008-08-26T23:24:14Z")
Heck my problem is that I can never get to the end of a tube. No matter how empty it looks I can always squeeze out another blob for one more brushing! OK, eventually I have to give up.
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### Author:  [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/17 "2008-08-26T23:27:14Z")
[QUOTE=butler1850]
Not in any family that I’ve known…
[/QUOTE]
You obviously haven’t shared a bathroom with teenagers.
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### Author:  [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/18 "2008-08-27T01:14:18Z")
I seem to remember all of the toothpaste brands coming out with pumps back in the late 80s. I specifically remember the Colgate pump and I’ve gotten other pump toothpastes for my kids. So it certainly can be done.
I do suspect that we’ve been trolled, since the OP hasn’t come back to explain what army is going through a tube a week. :dubious: Hopefully, I’m wrong…I’d really like to know what the situation is.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/19 "2008-08-27T01:16:35Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster]
It will last longer if you reduce the number of teeth to brush, and/or your brushing schedule.
[/QUOTE]
I suspect opting for the latter will get you the former as a bonus.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-a-quart-size-toothpaste-dispenser/461319/20 "2008-08-27T01:53:16Z")
Maybe he’s using it as spackle?
Back in my college days, it was said that toothpaste made a great makeshift spackle to use to fill thumbtack holes and the like when you moved out of your dorm room so that you wouldn’t get hit with charges for damages.
Except apparently that practice was developed in the olden days when toothpaste was white and pasty. By the time I was in school (1989-93), everybody was using blue gel. :smack: It didn’t work so well.
That said, I really want to know how it is that the OP is using so much toothpaste!!
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