Because it alone contains triclosan, Colgate Total is without question the most clinically effective toothpaste on the market, for now. Other toothpastes will no doubt add triclosan soon. Of course, as noted above, any fluoride toothpaste will do an adequate job. Or you may wish to ignore all the above advice and choose among the flashier competitors for aesthetic reasons, which are laid out below. Gels use silica as an abrasive to help polish teeth.
Pastes use calcium carbonate to the same end.
Simply a matter of preference for the brusher. Crest is the standard here, while Colgate products tend toward runniness. This product was so thick that it refused to come out of its tube, even when squeezed with both hands at once. Only stomping on the tube with a shod foot produced any results, and those meager. One shudders to imagine an actual aged person attempting to use this toothpaste.