This is my personal review of the Colgate Optic White Renewal Toothpaste after having used and tested it to verify its alleged benefits. I will be giving you my subjective thoughts based on my personal experience and also the objective facts about this dentifrice.
Yes, I am a dentist so don’t skip the section about how this toothpaste works because I will be going into depth about how it does what it claims to do.
But ultimately, is this whitening toothpaste worth a try? We will find out together.
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Overview
The Renewal toothpaste is a part of Colgate’s Optic White line of products that are focused on whitening teeth. These products are easily recognizable due to their distinctive bright red packaging that helps you differentiate it from their regular oral care products.
Featured benefits
The primary selling point for the optic white renewal toothpaste is that it is peroxide-based. It alleges that it can give you 10x whiter teeth after four weeks of use when compared to a regular fluoride toothpaste.
“Our patented whitening toothpaste contains 3% hydrogen peroxide, proven to deeply whiten beyond surface stains.”
Colgate
List of benefits:
- Hydrogen peroxide (3%)
- Enamel safe
- Prevents cavities
- Freshens breath
- Sugar free
- Gluten free
- Vegan
We will explain how all of these benefits work in a later section.
Product specifications
- Price: $ (< $10)
- Net weight: 3oz (85g)
- Whitening agent: 3% hydrogen peroxide
- Fluoride: 0.76% monofluorophosphate
- Availability: Most major pharmacies or online retailers.
Ingredients
Below is a full list of the ingredients in the optic white renewal toothpaste. The ingredients are fairly standard aside from the higher peroxide concentration which most whitening toothpastes do not have.
Whitening agent:
- Hydrogen peroxide (3%) – chemical bleaches away teeth stains.
Remineralization agent:
- Sodium Monofluorophosphate (0.76%) – anticavity and enamel repair.
Whitening abrasives:
- Silica – mild natural whitening abrasive.
Stain and tartar prevention:
- PVP – prevents staining by preventing stain molecules from adhering onto teeth.
- Calcium pyrophosphate – tartar control agent but also prevents stains.
- Tetrasodium pyrophosphate – tartar and stain prevention.
- Disodium pyrophosphate – anti-tartar agent.
Flavoring:
- Flavor – yes this was a listed ingredient…
- Sucralose – sweetener.
- Sodium saccharin – sweetener for flavoring.
Others:
- Propylene glycol – humectant (prevents toothpaste from drying out).
- PEG/PPG-116/66 copolymer – humectant which prevents toothpaste from drying.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate – surfactant that helps foaming and lathering for cleaning.
- BHT – synthetic antioxidant that is used as a preservative.
Unboxing
The optic white renewal toothpaste comes in a standard rectangular cardboard box. The standout feature is that it had a bright red color design which is the colgate optic white line’s iconic design. Very bold coloring and design in my opinion, you literally can’t miss it.
The box is sealed with some glue so you can’t open it and reclose it without breaking the packaging. Once you open it, you can find the tube of toothpaste nestled inside. There is no protective housing component inside of the box, the tube simply sits in there.
The texture of the plastic on the tube is pretty average. I’ve tried some of the more premium artisanal toothpastes which had a much higher quality of plastic for the tube such as the Boka toothpaste. The boka actually looks and feels like a cosmetic product.
Anyway, all you need to do to begin using the renewal toothpaste is to open the cap, which is a flip cap. I do like the flip cap design because it is convenient for opening and closing. The only unfortunate thing is that there is no aluminium freshness seal once you open the cap.
After you use it, you can store the toothpaste in a vertical upright position which is another design feature that I really like. In my opinion, the vertical standing toothpastes give your bathroom sink a cleaner look when compared to the tubes that lay flat.
A bonus for an upright toothpaste is that gravity naturally pulls the paste inside the tube down to the opening. This way you don’t have to do as much squeezing to dispense it onto your toothbrush. It also ensures that every last drop will be used so you get the most out of your money.
My experience
After using the colgate optic white renewal toothpaste, my mouth felt incredibly fresh and clean immediately afterwards. I suspect it has to do with the peroxide which is an antiseptic that can obliterate oral bacteria.
Therefore brushing with this gave me an extra tingly and minty sensation. It certainly feels very different than using the Sensodyne toothpaste. You get a very fresh and clean sensation when you brush with this toothpaste.
The color of the optic white renewal toothpaste is an opaque white color. That’s basically the standard color for most mint flavored dentifrices.
This toothpaste smells like some type of mint so if you like that, this may be it for you. Although the mintiness isn’t so strong that it singes your nosehair.
The renewal toothpaste tastes very minty and you also get a tingling sensation as you’re brushing with it. It doesn’t taste bad or anything but it does leave the mouth feeling clean.
I liked that my mouth didn’t feel dry afterwards. There was also no burning sensation from the peroxide either.
The texture of this toothpaste is slightly more gritty than most other toothpastes. I wouldn’t say it is sandy but you definitely do notice it in your mouth.
However, it isn’t quite as gritty as the optic white pro series toothpaste which almost felt like a slurry of pumice.
Last but not least, I like to do the upside down toothbrush test to evaluate the consistency and how it holds up. When I turned the toothbrush upside down, it did slump off a few times.
The paste itself holds shape but it does tend to slide off of the toothbrush.
You should prepare yourself for some foam when you brush with it since it does contain sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). It foamed a lot more than most of the other toothpastes that i’ve tried before.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Removes extrinsic & intrinsic stains
- Enamel safe
- Antibacterial
- Upright storable
- Fresh & clean feeling
Cons:
- Costs more than regular toothpaste
- Small quantity (3 oz tube)
- May cause teeth sensitivity
- Not SLS-free
Like & Dislike
What I like:
- It has peroxide so it can bleach your teeth whiter unlike other whitening toothpastes without peroxide.
- The peroxide also doubles up as an antibacterial so keeps your mouth extra fresh after brushing.
- I love that it has a flip cap so it opens and closes easily plus it can be stored vertically.
- I haven’t experienced any sensitivity from using it at all.
What I dislike:
- It is pricier than regular toothpastes especially if you take into account it’s size of 3oz.
- This toothpaste isn’t as strong as colgate’s pro series which has 5% peroxide.
- The plastic tube isn’t as high quality as some of their other toothpastes.
How it works
All of the alleged claims of the colgate optic white renewal toothpaste can be substantiated. You may be surprised but it does do what it says it does. We will explain all of the mechanisms below.
How it whitens teeth
This toothpaste whitens your teeth using two different mechanisms.
- Mechanically abrade stains. The sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) along with the silica allows it to scrub away extrinsic surface stains on your teeth.
- Chemically oxidize (bleach) stains. The peroxide is what gives this toothpaste its bleaching ability to make your yellow teeth whiter.
Most whitening toothpastes on the market do not contain peroxide so they cannot bleach your teeth. How they all whiten your dentition is only via mechanical abrasion which isn’t what you usually think of when you “whiten teeth”.
The renewal toothpaste by colgate is one of the few that actually contain hydrogen peroxide so it will be able to whiten teeth both ways.
How it keeps enamel safe
Unlike the whitening strips or other OTC whitening products, this whitening toothpaste is fluoridated which means it comes with fluoride. Since it contains fluoride, it can help keep your enamel safe by negating some of the enamel damage from whitening.
What happens when you brush with it:
- The peroxide will cause minor demineralization of the enamel.
- However, the fluoride will help remineralize the demineralized enamel.
Essentially, the toothpaste will neutralize any harm that may have come to your enamel from the bleaching. As you can imagine if you were brushing with pure peroxide without any fluoride, you would only be left with demineralization!
How it freshens breath
Brushing with the renewal toothpaste will indeed freshen your breath because of anti-tartar ingredients, fluoride, and also hydrogen peroxide.
Breath freshening agents:
- Anti-tartar agents. There are 3 types of pyrophosphates in this toothpaste which prevents the plaque from turning into hard tartar. This will keep your breath fresher because it means there will be less bacteria stuck to your enamel.
- Fluoride. This isn’t spoken about too commonly but fluoride is toxic to bacteria, meaning it does have antibacterial properties.
- Peroxide. Yes, this is the primary teeth whitening agent but it is also an antiseptic. In case you forgot, those brown bottles of peroxide have the same exact concentration (3%) as this toothpaste! This will kill bacteria in your mouth while you’re brushing.
In our opinion the advantage to using this dentifrice is that it also has an additional antimicrobial property due to the hydrogen peroxide content. Less bacteria in your mouth will equate to a fresher smelling breath.
How it causes sensitivity
A common side effect of teeth whitening is teeth sensitivity and since this is a whitening toothpaste, some discomfort is to be expected. According to the American Dental Association, if there is sensitivity, it will usually resolve within 4-5 days after stopping treatment.
The culprit of the discomfort stems from the peroxide which is the whitening agent. Just so that you know, the whitening toothpastes without peroxide will not have sensitivity but it also won’t bleach your teeth.
Personally, I’ve yet to experience any sensitivity while using the colgate renewal toothpaste but this side effect is listed on the box label.
Verdict
Overall I think the colgate optic white renewal toothpaste is a solid whitening toothpaste. It is one of the few toothpastes that can actually whiten your teeth since it has peroxide. Most so called whitening toothpastes do NOT contain any peroxide so they don’t bleach your teeth.
As far as I know, colgate’s optic white line has 3 different toothpastes with peroxide in it.
- Pro series toothpaste (5% peroxide)
- Renewal toothpaste (3% peroxide)
- Advanced whitening toothpaste (2% peroxide)
I think this is worthwhile to use because once again, there aren’t that many toothpastes with peroxide in it. You can scour the internet but your options are fairly limited to begin with.
If you’re looking to whiten your teeth with a product that can potentially bring you results, this toothpaste may be the one for you. We also compared this toothpaste to the advanced in case you need further help in making your decision.