Teeth Whitening Glossary

The American Dental Association evaluates US commercial toothpaste formulas and assigns them an "abrasiveness rating" or "Relative Dentin Abrasivity" (RDA) number. The ADA will certify any toothpaste with an RDA of 250 or less, while the FDA seems to prefer a lower RDA of 200. If you don't know the RDA of your whitening toothpaste, you can find out by using the consumer contact information on the package or container. The following chart ranks commercial toothpastes in order of their RDA value.

See our article on whitening toothpates and tooth abrasiveness.