Squigle Toothpaste VS. Colgate Total Advanced Clean Toothpaste

No doubt, you've heard of Colgate Total Advanced Clean toothpaste-but Squigle? When comparing Colgate Total Advanced Clean toothpaste vs. Squigle toothpaste, Squigle wins hands-down on our household. Here's why.

Colgate Total Advanced Clean toothpaste, manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive, Inc., is one of the most popular toothpastes on the market. Sold in major drugstore chains such as CVS, Eckerd, Walgreen's, and Rite-Aid, the Colgate brand series of toothpastes is also found in virtually every grocery store and convenience store.

For years, our family used Colgate Tartar Control toothpaste, on the advice of our dentist. He told us that Colgate tartar Control toothpaste would help with accumulated tartar. When plaque forms on teeth, if you don't brush it away within twelve to twenty-four hours, the plague hardens and forms tartar. Plaque can be brushed away with a toothbrush and toothpaste; tartar cannot. Tartar builds up over time, and the only way to remove it is through a process called scaling. In other words, the dentist or dental hygienist goes in and literally scrapes the tartar off the teeth, going deep under the gum line to prevent the tartar build up going toward the tooth's root.

More recently, however, our family switched to Colgate Total Advanced Clean toothpaste. Our entire family, which includes me, my husband, and our two sons, ages eight and five, have been using Total Advanced Clean toothpaste for a few years. And then, last year, we realized it has Triclosan in it.

Triclosan is the same chemical used in antibacterial soaps. It discourages tartar build-up. But do we really want an industrial chemical designed to kill germs on surfaces in our mouths? Do we want our children accidentally swallowing such a powerful chemical? So we began to search for a toothpaste other than Colgate Total Advanced Clean toothpaste-a toothpaste that would still help us to fight cavities, help fight tartar, but not provide us with ingestible chemicals that might harm our bodies.

On the quest to find a safer toothpaste, we discovered Squigle. Squigle is a relatively new brand of toothpaste, manufactured by Squigle, Inc. of Narberth, Pennsylvania. Squigle isn't remotely in the same league as Colgate-Palmolive in terms of company size or variety of products, but the Squigle toothpaste was an interesting find. Squigle does not contain Triclosan. It also does not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, an ingredient that appears in nearly all toothpastes, including the Colgate line, the Crest line, and even more "natural" toothpaste company lines such as Tom's of Maine. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is an industrial chemical that is a detergent used in soaps, shampoos and-yes-toothpaste. It helps to clean the teeth, but at the same time it is a harsh chemical that acts as a drying agent. It can dry the mouth to such a degree that it causes serious gum and oral mucosa (the soft inside skin in your mouth) sores.

If you have frequent canker sores, for instance, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate may be the culprit. Dental and medical researchers have studied this chemical for years, and all doctors and dentists will tell patients with recurrent canker sores to remove Sodium Lauryl Sulfate from their toothpaste and oral hygiene routine. Once Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is removed, many patients experience a complete remission of canker sore problems. Use Sodium Lauryl Sulfate again, and it comes back.

Squigle does not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Colgate does. Another way that Squigle works better for our family.

Finally, Squigle contains 36% Xylitol. Xylitol is a natural sugar made from birch trees. It is also known to help prevent dental decay. A sugar that helps fight cavities? Yes-as odd as it sounds, Xylitol is known to help prevent cavities, and in countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands Xylitol is approved as a cavity-fighter.

Squigle contains fluoride as well, so that topical fluoride use can be maintained to help fight cavities as well. Given the fact that Squigle has no Triclosan and no Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, but does contain Xylitol and fluoride, Squigle is the toothpaste of choice for our house.

It also tastes minty-fresh and far better than Colgate! Squigle wins the battle.