“…not immediately aware of any safety issues with this product.”
That’s the official word from the Food and Drug Administration about some toothpaste formulations on the market that include the ingredient polyethylene in the form of microbeads. Crest and other manufacturers have used the plastic material for years to give their products an aesthetic quality that consumers like; the little blue dots are thought to pack a punch in the way of polishing power.
But a dental hygienist began blogging about them when she noticed the presence of little blue specks in the mouths of her patients. Her concerns that the plastic dots are wrecking havoc with teeth and gums has put pressure on legislators to phase plastic out of toothpaste. Illinois will have banned the manufacture and sale of products like Proctor & Gamble’s Crest 3D entirely by 2018.
“Anything foreign and under the gum line could lead to problems,” according to one dentist, in this ABC News report.
Find out which toothpastes contain microbeads here.
