Arm and Hammer Enamel Care Tootpaste

If you’ve ever had sensitive teeth you’ll know what I mean when I say you’ll try most things to get rid of it. Who wants to find themselves wincing when they tuck into icecream on a sunny day? Where’s the fun into having to ask for a straw ever time you order a drink to prevent shooting tooth pain? When my teeth were at their worst, I would gasp with pain if I breathed cold air in too quickly.

Over a period of months, I tried toothpaste after toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth, but found that upon finishing the tube, there was no improvement. I tried Colgate, Macleans, Aquafresh – all the big names.

About 2 years ago, though, I discovered Arm and Hammer Enamel Care toothpaste.I wasn’t sure about it at first, because the packaging made it look like it would be quite tough on my teeth, what with the huge muscular arm brandishing a hammer, and its promise to whiten my teeth by three shades. Generally, whitening processes are not good for sensitive teeth. But as I say, I was desperate, and I gave it a go.

The box that the product comes in is obviously designed purely to make it easier to stack on shelves as it doesn’t tell you much more than what’s on the tube inside. It’s a traditional squeezy tube with a screw cap.

The paste itself is very firm, much heavier than most toothpastes. On cold days it is actually very difficult to get out of the tube as it becomes quite hard, but this doesn’t seem to affect its performance. When you first use it, the taste is very strange. It’s quite bitter and whilst it does taste minty, it also has a sort of chemical undertone. At first this really put me off, but after a week or so I got used to it and now I actually prefer it to other toothpastes. I think this is because after you’ve finished brushing, it leaves your mouth feeling extremely fresh – sort of tingly and cold. My teeth, gums and tongue feel much cleaner than they do if I use any other toothpaste. The product doesn’t really foam as much as other toothpastes but again you get used to it and you do still feel like it reaches everywhere in your mouth.

After maybe a week of using this product I found that my tooth sensitivity had almost entirely disappeared. The makers claim that this toothpaste works by fixing the root cause of sensitivity, blocking the pathways to the exposed nerves. Other toothpastes, they say, only numb the area temporarily. Of course, I’ve no way of knowing whether this is true or not, but what I do know is that I feel a lot more confident now that if I bite into an icecream, the only thing I’ll feel is refreshed.

As for the whitening claims: I do tend to get compliments about how white my teeth are, but I’m not sure whether this is to do with the toothpaste or not as I don’t drink tea or coffee or smoke, which seem to be the main causes of staining. As other reviews have mentioned, there are other ways to whiten your teeth such as using this product’s star ingredient: baking soda.

At the moment this toothpaste would set you back £3.22 in Boots. I know that sounds quite expensive but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out as I’ve seen it on offer tons of times and I tend to stockpile it when I get the opportunity. You can pick it up half price quite often. However, a word of warning: I once picked up 3 tubes of this in a pound shop, thinking I’d got a brilliant bargain because the wording on the packaging was in a different language (Arabic, I think). When I started using it though, it was obvious that this was not the same product as the consistency of the paste was completely different. So if it seems like too much of a bargain – it just might be!

If I could, I would give this product 4.5 stars because I appreciate that it’s out of some people’s budget and the taste is really quite odd at first. But for me, it has made such a difference in my day to day life that I can’t help but give it 5 stars. It’s my miracle cure! The taste doesn’t take long to get used to at all, and if you’re not willing to pay full price for it then there are regular offers that you can take advantage of. I’m absolutely willing to pay £3+ for it and have done in the past but you don’t need to if you don’t want to.