The purpose of this study was to introduce a new in vitro method for evaluating the antimicrobial activity of toothpaste, reflecting the actual toothbrushing time and the dilution of toothpaste by salivation. We designed three experimental groups and one negative control group. The experimental groups were (1) 90 μL of toothpaste + 10 μL 1X phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, 9/10 dilution group), (2) 50 μL of toothpaste + 40 μL 1X PBS (1/2 dilution group), and (3) 25 μL of toothpaste + 65 μL 1X PBS (1/4 dilution group). During toothbrushing, saliva is continuously secreted into the oral cavity and the toothpaste concentration is diluted over time during toothbrushing. Therefore, the 1/2 and 1/4 dilution experimental groups were added. The negative control group was toothpaste diluted 20,000-fold with 1X PBS. Miracle Fresh Doctor toothpaste and Streptococcus mitis KCOM 1350, Prevotella intermedia KCOM 1107, Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum KCOM 1322, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans KCOM 1306 were used as the toothpaste and target bacterial strains, respectively. The number of bacterial cells plated on agar plates in the negative control group was 1,000 CFU. If the number of colonies on the experimental group plate was less than one, the treatment was considered to have > 99.9% bactericidal activity. These results suggest that this new in vitro method for antimicrobial evaluation could be used as the standard method for testing the antimicrobial activity of toothpaste.

Along with toothbrushes, toothpaste has been used for a long time to improve the personal oral hygiene. Toothpaste was firstly introduced to Korea through as a form of powder by the Japanese company Lion Corporation in 1889 and in 1954, the LakHee Chemistry company released Korea’ s first ever tube type cream toothpaste called lucky toothpaste, and afterwards we got to where we are today in terms of toothpaste. As a variety of products are released and customer choices become more diverse, there needs to be a development of toothpaste that can fulfill customers’ needs and requests. Therefore, this study analyzes toothpastes and related patents submitted to the Patent Office from 1962 to June 2015, thereby examining the changes in toothpaste development trends up to the present day. This study was searched using the keyword ‘toothpaste’ in the patent, utility model search engine at Kipris(www.kipris.or.kr), a patent search site, and categorized a total of 2,465 patents, which excluded those rejected by the Patent Office and those unrelated to toothpaste, using titles, full texts of publications and announcements. Research results showed that in the past, from 1960 to 1989, patents related to toothpaste containers took up the highest ratio of 35%. However, after 1990, patents pertaining to toothpaste composites and functionality made up the highest percentage of 54%, and from 2010 to 2015, it occupied 72% of the whole; therefore, we analyzed in detail the patents related to composites and functionality. Taking a look at the objectives and effects of patents having to do with composites and functionality, we found out that from 1964 to June 2015, patents related to Base, a basic component of toothpaste, and those having to do with periodontal disease took up the highest percentages of 25% each, and from 2010~2015 in particular, patents concerning periodontal diseases were submitted 3% more than those about Base. Composites aiming to prevent and treat periodontal diseases can be divided into four different categories, based on components; among those, there were a total of 171 (57%) patents related to living organism and herbal medicine extracts, 107 (36%) patents using compounds, 16 (5%) patents using bamboo salt as well as salt, and 5 (2%) patents using mineral components such as gold, silver. Looking at these investigation results, it can be thought that with the increasing development of toothpaste related to periodontal diseases, there’ s a great amount of interest about toothpaste of effective periodontal disease prevention and treatment purposes. Along with this, we thought that research about how effective periodontal disease toothpastes actually are is also necessary.

In this study, hydroxyapatite (HAp) was incorporated into toothpaste and its effect on the remineralization and restoration of dental enamel was evaluated. Different sets of toothpaste were incorporated with HAp levels of 0%, 5%, 10 %, and 15 %. The filler particles of the resulting toothpaste samples were observed via SEM and XRD and compared with compositions of several commercially available toothpastes, showing that the HAp was successfully incorporated into the toothpaste samples. Different sets of human enamel were inflicted with lesions and then treated with the different fabricated toothpaste samples for five minutes three times a day for seven days. During the treatment, the teeth were subjected to demineralization and remineralization cycles to simulate the effect of natural saliva. The surface of the enamel samples were observed using SEM before and after one week of treatment, showing the formation of HAp layers on the surfaces of the enamel samples. The effect of the toothpaste on the lesions was observed using an inverted light microscope and the lesion depth was found to decrease as the concentration of HAp in the toothpaste used increased. HAp was successfully incorporated in the toothpaste and its presence was found to lessen lesion depths and improve tooth remineralization.

This study was carried out to evaluate the irritant potential of P-toothpaste in hamster cheek pouch. The test materials were applied once at the beginning of this study into right pouches of hamsters and maintained for 14 days. Animals were administered with P-toothpaste, Bamboo salt toothpaste, D.W. and control solution, respectively. In order to evaluate the irritant potential in mucosa of hamster cheek pouch, we observed clinical signs, mortality, body weights and gross and histopathological findings for 14 days. In all groups, there were neither dead animals nor significant changes of body weights. In addition, there were no differences between D.W. and Ptoothpaste treated group in gross and histopathological findings. Therefore, these results suggest that there was little irritant potential of P-toothpaste in hamster cheek pouch.

전통적으로 치약은 브랜드 충성도가 뚜렷하지 않고 소비자들이 편의점에서 저렴한 것을 고르는 ‘저관여 상품’이다. 그러나 소비자들의 구매트랜드가 바뀌고 있다. 범용치약에서 기능성치약으로 옮겨가는 추세이다. 또한 기능성 제품의 세분화와 경쟁이 점점 치열해지고 있다. 기능성치약이란 일반 범용치약과는 달리 개인의 구강습관과 치아상태에 맞춰 선택해서 사용할 수 있는 고기능성 전문치약을 말한다. 시린이케어, 잇몸케어, 미백 등 다양한 기능은 치아건강에 대한 의식이 높아지는 소비자들의 선호와 맞물리면서 기능성치약의 판매가 높아지는 것이다. 이에 패키지디자인도 이러한 기능성치약 개발에 편승하여 제품의 기능적 특성과 정보를 일반 소비자에게 제대로 전달하고 강하게 부각시켜야 할 중요한 역할을 담당하게 되었다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 이러한 기능성치약의 일반적인 고찰과 함께 현재 시판되고 있는 각 제품들이 가지고 있는 기능적 특성과 표면디자인 표현전략을 분석해 봄으로써 보다 바람직한 기능성치약의 디자인 차별화전략에 대하여 알아보고자 한다.

우리는 평생 동안 하루도 빠짐없이 치약과 같은 구강관리 제품들을 사용한다. 이와 같이 매일 입에 사용되는 제품의 안전성이 담보되어야 함은 매우 중요한 일이다. 이전까지 이루어진 동물시험이나 임상시험에서 치약 내 계면활성제 등에 의한 구강 자극이 유발될 수 있음이 알려져 있다. 하지만, 동물복지를 위하여 유럽 화장품 법안은 화장품과 그에 사용하는 원료에 대한 동물 시험을 금지했다. 그로 인해 여러 분야에서 동물을 대체하거나 동물의 사용을 줄일 수 있는 동물대체 시험법의 개발이 활발하게 이루어지고 있다. 하지만, 현재까지 구강 점막 독성을 측정할 수 있는 방법으로 임상시험과 동물시험이 있었으며, 최근에는 구강 점막 조직 모델이나 구강 세포들을 활용한 방법들이 연구되고 있다. 이번 연구의 목적은 구강관리 제품의 안전성을 확보할 수 있는 동물대체 시험법을 개발하는 것이다. 구강 세포주(YD-38 cell)를 활용해 불용성 물질을 포함한 치약에 대한 시험이 가능하도록 구강 점막 자극 시험법을 개발하였고, 이 시험법으로 이전에 이루어진 동물시험에서 자극유발원으로 알려진 물질에 의한 자극을 구별해낼 수 있었다. 또한, 유아와 어린이 치약의 자극 수준이 일반 성인 치약에 비해 낮음을 증명하였다. 이 결과를 바탕으로 동물을 사용하지 않고 인체에 대한 위해성을 줄일 수 있도록, 구강관리 제품의 구강 점막 자극 수준을 평가할 수 있는 이 시험법이 하나의 새로운 구강 자극 시험 방법으로 사용될 수 있으리라 사료된다.