We ran out of Fuzzy's favorite toothpaste a couple days ago, and since there's been no time to go shopping, we've been raiding the tubes we bought while on various vacations. This week, we're using a tube of Canadian Colgate, instead of our usual American AquaFresh.

I'd noticed when we were in Baja for Christmas, the year before that, that CocaCola was sweeter, and chocolate was grainier, but I'd also noticed that the toothpaste was, well, gloppier. It didn't come out of the tube in a pasty cylinder, much like the toothpaste equivalent of canned cranberry sauce (you know, the kind where, if you don't take measures, you can see the ring-marks from the can?), but instead sort of splatted onto the bristles of my toothbrush. It was also sweeter than I generally expected toothpaste to be.

I was mildly suprised when the Canadian toothpaste, which Fuzzy had grabbed while in Toronto for a Geek Conference, was much more like the Mexican stuff than the American stuff: Gloppy, sweet, and sort of glowy green, despite not being a gel.

Do we, as Americans, have such bad teeth that we require a more abrasive toothpaste, or is this just a result of the difference in which chemicals are allowed where? Or is the real problem that I'm comparing American AquaFresh to Mexican Crest and Canadian Colgate?

Just an idle thought while trying to survive the work day.