I tried five toothpastes, including Crest and Colgate – but a cheaper brand left my mouth fresh

THERE aren’t many products you use at least twice a day for your entire life.

So when it comes to those everyday essentials, we went in search to see which toothpaste gives you the best Bang For Your Buck.

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Americans buy over 400million tubes of toothpaste a year, according to Arm & Hammer, so it’s worth thinking about whether you are getting a good deal from your brand of choice.

For this product test, I considered the taste, cleaning performance and overall value of four market-leading brands and one discount brand.

I gave each product a score out of 10, with 10 being the best, in those three categories, totaling a potential 30 points.

Bear in mind prices may vary by location.

Let’s get onto the brushing and to see which product was crowned the winner.

Here are the results from worst to best.

5. ARM & HAMMER ADVANCE WHITE

• Price: $3.53
• Total score: 16 out of 30

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At $3.53 for a six ounce tube (around 59 cents per ounce), the Advance White from Arm & Hammer is the most expensive toothpaste I tested.

This one is powerful. The clean mint flavor felt warm in my mouth and the gritty baking soda texture was very refreshing.

However, as someone who suffers from sensitive teeth, it was too much for daily brushing.

It left my gums inflamed and sore, and the taste became overpowering. I didn’t enjoy this brush at all.

While the product definitely delivered enough cleaning muscle to justify the higher price, the strength may be too much for some people, myself included.

4. CREST + SCOPE COMPLETE

• Price: $1.25
• Total score: 17 out of 30

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At just $1.25 from Dollar Tree, this toothpaste was a great deal compared to prices for Crest products at Walmart, CVS, or Target.

The tube is 2.27 ounces, so that works out to 55 cents per ounce.

Despite the low price, the fluoride toothpaste is packed with Scope whitening agents.

You’ll notice this one is green – and the mint favor is much more potent than the other toothpastes I tried.

Although this gives a very clean feeling, I found the taste a bit too overpowering for daily use – I could even feel it in my nose!

3. AQUAFRESH EXTREME CLEAN

• Price: $3.17
• Total score: 17 out of 30

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This one from Aquafresh costs $3.17 for 5.6 ounces at Walmart, making it around 57 cents per ounce.

I loved Aquafresh as a kid because of the distinct red white and blue stripes, and it’s still a winner on taste.

Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to have the cleaning grit that the others do, even though this is an Extreme Clean variety with whitening action.

The mint blast favor is powerful and slightly herbal, but not as strong as the Crest product.

Aquafresh lathers really well, and my teeth felt very clean after a brush with this.

My only disappointment was that this version of Aquafresh seemed to be missing the blue in the stripes.

I even emptied out half the tube to double-check.

2. COLGATE CAVITY PROTECTION

• Price: $1
• Totals score: 23 out of 30

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I picked up this run-of-the-mill Colgate tube for $1 from Walmart.

Although the price is low, the tube is only 2.5 ounces, making the price per ounce: 40 cents.

This is the most basic toothpaste Colgate sells, although it boasts added fluoride to strengthen teeth and prevent cavities.

The texture of this toothpaste is soft and the mint flavor is gentle and enjoyable.

It lathers well and gave a good clean – definitely a solid all-rounder.

However, considering Colgate is one of the most recognizable toothpaste brands of all time, you may expect something a little more special for your money.

While this version of Colgate wasn’t available in my local Dollar Tree, they did have other varieties including whitening and sensitive.

So you may want to check out the selection next time you’re at Dollar Tree.

1. ULTRA BRITE ANTICAVITY FLUORIDE

• Price: $1
• Total score: 24 out of 30

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At $1 for a six ounce tube at Walmart, Ultra brite offered the best price by far – just under 17 cents an ounce.

I also found this one at $1.25 at Dollar Tree, which is still good value considering the size.

With the added baking soda ingredient, you could call it an Arm & Hammer dupe, which many fans of the more premium brand would consider a big bonus.

However, the taste is milder compared to its competitors and didn’t leave my gums feeling sore.

The gritty texture of the baking soda definitely gave my teeth a good scrub and I do not believe I would have known this is a budget toothpaste if it were a blind test.

If you’re looking for a good value baking soda toothpaste, you will not regret trying this.

FINAL THOUGHTS

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Out of the five brands I tried, I am most likely to switch to Ultra brite.

I like the clean sensation of baking soda toothpastes but Arm & Hammer was too strong for my teeth, meaning it didn’t offer good value for me.

It is a great experience for any money saver when you discover a discounted product that exceeds your expectations.

Considering Ultra brite is by far the cheapest, yet still offered a good clean and mild taste.

It is hard to argue against this affordable option.

The runner up is certainly Colgate. There won’t be many people who don’t enjoy that classic mint taste.

It cleaned and lathered well, and offered good value for money.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to all the brands reviewed in this test.

To save even more, you can check out value packs of Colgate toothpastes at Walmart, CVS, Target, and most other major supermarkets.

The U.S. Sun is on a mission to get you the best Bang For Your Buck across the whole range of everyday products and foods.

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