Oral care – toothpaste and mouthwash ingredients

In the EU, toothpastes and mouthwashes are cosmetic products, so they follow the same labelling rules as creams and shampoos. The group contains two categories: toothpastes, including gels and powders, and mouthwashes or oral rinses used after brushing or on their own. Products authorised as medicines follow different rules. This database covers the cosmetic ones.

Toothpastes are usually built on abrasives such as HYDRATED SILICA or CALCIUM CARBONATE, humectants like SORBITOL and GLYCERIN, thickeners such as CELLULOSE GUM or XANTHAN GUM, and a surfactant, often SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE. Fluoride may appear as SODIUM FLUORIDE, SODIUM MONOFLUOROPHOSPHATE or STANNOUS FLUORIDE. Mouthwashes are mainly water, humectants and solubilisers, sometimes with ALCOHOL and CETYLPYRIDINIUM CHLORIDE.

Fluoride compounds are listed in Annex III of the EU Cosmetics Regulation with a maximum total fluorine content, and products containing them carry specific labelling requirements, including notes related to use by children. Flavour is listed as AROMA, and sweeteners such as SODIUM SACCHARIN or XYLITOL are named individually. Colourants, if any, appear by CI number.