A Random Thought

Toothpaste is a necessity in keeping your teeth clean. It is usually white in colour, and has a certain minty taste to it. Every morning, I wake up, walk groggily to the toilet, apply some toothpaste on to my toothbrush and of course, start brushing.

Now take some time to think what I've written here. The least obvious question would be how much toothpaste are we using here? Does a bit appear too little for I seem to recall being taught that the proper tooth brushing technique meant using only a pea-sized dab of toothpaste. Do I have your attention? Read on.

In the first place, why do we make this mistake every single day? Is our self consciousness to look better with whiter teeth blinding us from the real truth? Is anyone making a profit out of this habit? Is this going to change for the better anytime soon? So many questions, but this article will educate you.

It seems to me that every toothpaste advertisement I see in print or on the television shows a long line of toothpaste being applied to the entire head of the brush. Sure, it may be more visually appealing to see a full line of toothpaste as opposed to a dab but because of this, marketing folks have exploited this mentality without us knowing it. Think about it, we are using four times more toothpaste than is really needed for basic oral hygiene. It doesn't end there; it also means that our tubes of toothpaste are running out faster. Yes, a tube may only cost us about $4 dollars but think about it in the big picture, how much do toothpaste companies profit from this? A good example would be Colgate, where in the year 2005, they ranked 210th in the Fortune 500 and enjoyed profits of up to $1.327 billion dollars. If each and every one of us uses four times less toothpaste would the profits be four times as little or at least be lower than what it is now? Based on simple arithmetic, the answer is yes, it should.

However, not all hope is lost for not every one of us fall for this deception and this handful of wary beings give a glimmer of hope that one day, this conspiracy would be unveiled. Hopefully, after reading this, we would all use less toothpaste and still keep our teeth healthy and shining.