Cleans yer teeth (Signal Toothpaste)

Member Name: Belfastgirl

Product:	Signal Toothpaste
Date:	19/01/02 (1146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cleans your teeth

Disadvantages: Does not provide protection for gums

From the first tooth that I grew, like all mothers, my mother made sure that I cleaned my teeth well. For this twice daily task (in the morning after breakfast, and at night time just before I said my prayers) my mum always insisted that we use Signal toothpaste. I was always jealous of other kids who's mums bought Colgate minty gel, cause in my opinion it tasted nicer. I only know this, however, because in Primary 2 our old bat of a teacher insisted that we clean our teeth at lunch time as well. So in an effort to liven up this mundane task we used to swap toothpaste, cause swapping toothbrushes was just too gross a thing to consider, even at the age of 7!

To this day, my mother insists on buying Signal toothpaste, and I have always thought that it was because she felt that it provided the best protection for our teeth. How wrong could I be? The other day I asked her why she always bought this brand, and she said "Because it's red and white!". Now, I'm used to my mother making such statements without developing further, so I wasn't particularly surprised. Finally I managed to get her to develop further - red and white is Man United's colours, and Michael (my oldest brother) is one of their most devoted fans. So there you go. Man United is responsible for me having cleaned my teeth for about 21 years with Signal toothpaste. I'm sure if they knew this that Signal would have to be paying them royalties or something.

Even though my brother has lived on the other side of the world for the last 6 years, my mum still insists on buying Signal. Show's who was favourite in our house.

Anyway, enough of my little stories, on to tell you about this toothpaste.

Signal toothpaste comes in tubes and in dispensers (though saying that, I haven't seen that many dispensers in recent years) - the one we use contains 50mls of toothpaste. It is produced by Elida Faberge. The packaging is coloured
in red, white and blue, which seems to be a pretty popular colour scheme for toothpaste!

The actual paste is white with little red stripes down it, hence the reason my mum buys it, and has a minty taste to it.

The packaging claims that it provided family protection, which we can only assume means that it can be used by everyone, regardless of their age. They do recommend that for children under the age of 7 that a small, pea sized amount should be used along with supervised brushing to help prevent swallowing too much toothpaste. They also suggest that if you are using fluoride supplements that you should contact your doctor before using this product (this is because Signal already contains Sodium Fluoride).

They say that it protects against decay, and that along with regular check ups with the dentist, Signal should keep your family's teeth protected. The packaging also claims that it strengthens tooth enamel and that it is clinically tested. The British Dental Health Foundation's symbol is placed on the back of the tube and they have recognised Signal as being "a useful aid in dental health care".

Unlike some toothpaste's, Signal does not claim to protect your gums too, and in a day and age where we are all aware of gum disease, I think that it is important to have a toothpaste that will also protect your gums.

It is also important to rinse your mouth out with water after using toothpaste, as we found out when my younger brother's teeth started to go yellowish. The dentist told us that if you don't rinse your mouth with water, that the toothpaste can corrode your teeth! Scarey thought!

I have mixed views on signal toothpaste, on one side I can see that none of the kids in our family have any fillings and we all have been using this toothpaste for years, and on the other side, Signal fails to provide the gum protection necessary, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to gi
ve "old faithful" a 3 stars, for average.

Summary: