I've Always Wondered Mitchell Hartman Mar 16, Listen Now. Share Now on:. Mint flavored toothpaste at the store. Courtesy of Kene Christensen. First name required. Last name required. Message required. Stories You Might Like How much money is there in the world? Do people even work 9-to-5 anymore? Why does soda come in liters and milk in gallons? Which economic stats matter most? Here is where the U. Congress buys its health insurance.
Also Included in. Share this Story. The first factor to examine is the abundance of access to mint oils. Mint oil is cheap and there is an abundance of it year round, which makes it ideal to use as a flavoring when mass producing products.
Another critical factor that keeps mint in favor as the top toothpaste flavor is the tingling fresh sensation that mint causes in the mouth. You have probably noticed that mint makes your mouth feel colder and leaves a sensation. This cooling feeling can be appealing or even addicting, and creates the assumption of fresher breath.
And much like Betty White, mint toothpaste is still kicking it. But what exactly does this minty flavor do and why do most kinds of toothpaste have this flavor? To squash the biggest misconception up front: there is no health benefit to having mint in toothpaste. Although mint does have health benefits , the amount of mint oil used in toothpaste is not enough to see any of those benefits.
Mint flavoring in toothpaste is just that, a flavoring. In reality, there are two big reasons mint toothpaste is so popular. To avoid getting overly complicated and making everyone's heads hurt, we've removed the super technical stuff. Basically, there are different sensory receptors in your mouth which react to different stimuli. One specific receptor reacts in the presence of cold temperatures telling the brain your mouth feels cold.
The same receptor that reacts to cold also happens to react in the presence of mint. So when something minty is in your mouth, your brain is being told your mouth feels cold.
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