Fluoride Concentration in Orthodontic Tooth pastes

Purpose: No information on the fluoride concentration in orthodontic tooth pastes sold in Iraq is presently available. The goal of this investigation was to establish and compare the fluoride content of five orthodontic tooth pastes offered in Iraqi drugstores, as well as testing the null hypothesis that entails the consistency of fluoride concentration measured over time may not deviate from the labelled amounts. Methods: Laboratory investigation on five brands of orthodontic tooth pastes namely Wisdom, Ortho Kin, Kemphor Ortho, VITIS Orthodontic and G.U.M. Ortho to determine the fluoride concentration in triplicate using a fluoride ion-selective electrode at two time points. A paired sample t-test and a one-sample t-test were used to determine the difference between the fluoride concentration reported on the tube and the observed value in both time intervals. Results: Initially all brands exhibited levels exceeding 1000 ppm with mean concentrations as follows; Wisdom Orthoclean (1355 ppm) Ortho Kin (1349 ppm) Kemphor Ortho (1361 ppm) VITIS Orthodontic (1348 ppm) and G.U.M. Ortho (1494 ppm) which were significantly lower than stated on the tube. After one month, a significant drop was noticed in the levels of fluoride in all tooth pastes (p-value <= 0.05). Conclusions: The fluoride concentration in orthodontic tooth pastes decreases over time and does not reach the levels stated on the packaging. It is advisable to recommend tooth pastes that retain their effectiveness even after being opened for some time.