By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

For the past few months, I’ve been using Pepsodent toothpaste after spotting it at the drug store for 99 cents a tube. Want to know something? It’s great tasting, and it works fine.

My grandfather, who was a dentist, once told me in answer to a question that the best toothpaste was “elbow grease.” I replied, in my best 7-year-old voice, “I like Pepsodent.”

Other brands of toothpaste cost much more than Pepsodent, some more than $5 a tube. I have tried them, and they pale before Pepsodent. Here’s hoping Pepsodent’s makers, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., don’t do anything to change it. The company also makes other brands of toothpaste — Arm & Hammer, Close-Up, Mentadent and Aim. Those other toothpastes aren’t too bad. I’ve tried them all. But compared to Pepsodent they just don’t do the trick for me.

For a few years, I used tooth powder, but you don’t see much of it around any more. I even used baking soda after reading that it was just as good as toothpaste, if not better. Well, I’ll tell you this: If you haven’t tried brushing your teeth with baking soda, don’t waste your time. It’s awful.

I think there might be too many brands of toothpaste. Choosing a toothpaste in the drug or grocery store can take a lot of time. Just looking at all the brands on display can make you forget what you have in your bathroom cupboard right now.

About four months ago, before my happy rediscovery of Pepsodent, I picked up a tube of Colgate and took it home. However, once I opened the box, took out the tube and tasted it, I could tell something wasn’t right. And I was right. It wasn’t just Colgate toothpaste, but Colgate with something in it to make your teeth look whiter than Styrofoam cups. And it tasted like Styrofoam, too. At first, I thought I’d have to use it all. Who throws away a perfectly good tube of toothpaste? But then, I saw Pepsodent in the store, and life was good again.

Tired of hearing about Pepsodent? Some day, I’ll tell you about Ipana, the second-best toothpaste.

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