Toothpaste: The Role Of Chemistry In Everyday Life

Chemistry in everyday life.

Nguyen Dinh Nguyen

SCH4U

Eva Strazimiri

October 15, 2014

Personal Hygiene

Toothpaste

The most common teeth disease is caries, which is the destruction of teeth’s layer by microorganism that produce lactic acid. The outer tissue of our teeth is called the enamel. It is very hard and durable. The composition of it is close to hydroxyapatite Ca5OH(PO4)3. If we do not brush our teeth regularly, then the leftovers will remain between our teeth. Those food leftovers are then soaked in saliva, which later created slightly soluble salt. When microorganisms decompose the leftovers, they produce lactic acid (mainly), which lowers the saliva’s pH to 4.0-5.0 in our mouth (usually pH is close to 6.75 for a clean mouth).

Some of the food additives are produced from natural food, but mostly they are created by chemists.

Each food additive has its own code. This code is different in different parts of the world: in Australia and New Zealand 3 digit number is used; in Europe a letter E is added to the 3 digit code; while in the USA it is just labeled as GRAS (generally recognized as safe). In this table, you can find food additives codes used in Europe:

Meanings of indications:

1) Antioxidants are substances that slow down the processes of fermentation and oxidation in foods.

2) Thickeners are substances that make foods firmer.

3) Stabilizers are substances that prevent changes of a food's state.

4) Emulsifiers are substances that stabilize an emulsion, which is a mixture made of unmixable liquids.

5) Antibiotics are substances that slowdowns the growth of microorganisms.

Some of the food additives are dangerous because they can cause allergies, stomachaches or can even lead to tumors (when consumed in large quantities). Some of the food additives can be approved in one part of the world and not approved in another part, for example, Amaranth is only approved in the