When I think of Aquafresh the annoying and thankfully, not regularly shown advert of the 'perfect' family in stripey pyjamas brushing their teeth springs to mind. It has to be said that this did not SELL the product to me. It was in fact the reasonable price of the item and it's effectiveness.

- Price -

As of April 2007. I bought my tube at Boots last week for 99p but I've checked in Asda and it's only 90p there.

- Compared with other brands per 100ml -

* Colgate Oxygen - 1.94
* Crest - 1.32
* Macleans Freshmint - 96p
* Signal - 98p

- Packaging -

As with most tube toothpastes this comes in a cuboid box, within which is a squeezable tube with a flip top lid, which I must point out should really be closed after use otherwise the top section dries out and becomes hard.

When new, the top of the tube has a protective silver seal on it which is easily removed when the nozzle section is unscrewed.

- What The Manufacturers Say About This Toothpaste -

* Brush twice a day to give your teeth triple protection.
* Gives clean, strong teeth
* Healthy gums
* Fresh breath
* New improved formula to leave your mouth feeling fresher than ever!

The red stripe fights plaque
The white stripe fights decay
The blue stripe freshens breath

- My Experience -

I am lucky in that I don't have bad teeth, my first filling in my mid 20s. As I trudge through my late 30s my teeth however are beginning to show signs of wear and tear (too many sweets!) but they are still a reasonable colour so I don't at this point have to buy any toothpastes with promises of whitening capabilities.

This toothpaste is striped with blue, white and red, each colour apparantly offering different things to your dental care, as listed above.

The paste is marketed as 'fresh and minty' and it certainly is just that! It has a cool feel to it when you are brushing your teeth and a lovely light minty flavour to it. mention light, as some toothpastes that I have used in the past have such a strong mintiness to them that they sometimes feel as if they are slightly 'burning' the inside of your mouth, not so with this one.

It froths quite a lot, a factor that I like. It may be psychological but I think the more froth you get the cleaner your teeth will become!

It cleans really well. My teeth feel totally clean after using it but since it has no whitening properties they don't make your teeth look like those seen on adverts that glisten in the light. It also freshens your breath, even the morning after a good night out!

As for all of it's promises about fighting decay and plaque, I'm sure it helps in some way as surely they wouldn't be able to market it as such!

-Other Aquafresh Toothpastes -

Aquafresh have a host of dental care products; toothbrushes, toothpastes, mouthwashes and kids products.
I have listed some of the toothpastes currently available:
* Extreme clean
* Extreme clean whitening
* Extreme clean intense rush
* Multi-active
* Multi-action whitening
* Mild and minty
* Fresh and minty
* Complete care

Aquafresh has a very comprehensive website www.aquafresh.co.uk
It gives you a complete outline of the products available as well as the following:
* Bright Bites School Programme funded by the Dept of Health. The ideas etc match Science Unit 3A of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 2
* Downloadable online learning resources which include toothbrushing charts, information sheets and colouring activities.

All in all I am more than happy with this toothpaste. So often you hear that you have to pay that little bit extra for quality but this toothpaste proves that it isn't always the case!