Toothpaste RDA index: the reference guide

The RDA index measures how much wear a toothpaste inflicts on your teeth. It is the single most useful number for choosing a toothpaste — and almost nobody displays it.

This page gathers what can be verified: the normative definition, the official scale, the thresholds for your situation, and an RDA table of toothpastes sold in France — with every value sourced. Tables have been circulating online for years, copied from one site to the next without source or date; this one does the opposite: it only keeps traceable values, gives ranges where measurements diverge, and says clearly which brands publish nothing.

What the RDA measures

RDA stands for Relative Dentin Abrasivity. The index has been defined since 1998 by the DIN EN ISO 11609 standard.

The measurement principle: a dentin sample is brushed with the tested toothpaste, and the resulting wear is compared with that of a reference paste. The result is a unitless number. The higher it is, the more the product wears down the tooth.

Two details that change how to read the number:

• The measurement is made on dentin, not enamel. Enamel is much harder: a toothpaste that damages exposed dentin can leave intact enamel unaffected.
• The RDA only describes the product. Actual wear also depends on your pressure, the hardness of your brush and how long you brush. A gentle toothpaste used badly wears more than a medium one used well.

The official scale

The standard sets 250 as the regulatory limit: below it, a toothpaste is considered usable for a lifetime. That is a safety ceiling, not a recommendation — 250 is still very abrasive. The American benchmarks point the same way: the ADA Seal (American Dental Association) requires an RDA of 250 or less, and the FDA recommends staying below 200. Neither ceiling is a guideline for daily use.

The practical rule of thumb: below 70, you are safe whatever your situation. Between 70 and 100, it depends on the state of your gums. Above 100, prolonged daily use should be discussed with a dentist.

Why the number is almost never on the tube

Because nothing requires it. The RDA index is not a mandatory item of European cosmetic labelling. A manufacturer can therefore measure its RDA, know it perfectly well, and not communicate it.

This is particularly troublesome with "whitening" products, whose effect often relies on more aggressive polishing — hence higher abrasivity. A toothpaste that whitens fast is a toothpaste that scours; the missing number keeps you from knowing how much.

The RDA table of toothpastes sold in France

How this table is built

Every value comes from one of these two families of sources, stated line by line:

• North American academic compilation: the RDA measurements published between 1995 and 2008 using the Hefferren method (from the historical author of the RDA protocol), widely redistributed in dental continuing education. Many of these products are sold in France under the same name.
• Values published by the manufacturers themselves: CP GABA (elmex, meridol) and Haleon (Sensodyne Pronamel) communicate the RDA of some formulas.

Three limitations to keep in mind, which explain the "≈" sign:

• The same paste measured in two laboratories can give results around 20% apart. The RDA is an order of magnitude, not a physical constant.
• Formulas evolve: a measurement published in 2005 describes the 2005 formula. The academic compilation values are therefore range markers, not certificates for the tube on the shelf.
• A product missing from the table is neither good nor bad: it only means that no traceable value exists (see the list below).

Compilation closed on 13 August 2026. Our own products appear in the table under the same conditions as the others, with their source.

The table, from gentlest to most abrasive

The reading that matters: the gap runs from 1 to 30 between the extremes of the shelf, and the big brands' "whitening" products cluster in the high to very high zone — precisely where daily use becomes questionable.

The brands that publish no value

At the compilation date, we found no traceable RDA value (neither a manufacturer publication nor a sourced measurement) for most products from: Signal, Parodontax, Oral-B, Fluocaril, Email Diamant, Sanogyl, Vademecum, as well as for the vast majority of French organic brands and solid toothpastes.

That silence is information in itself. These products are not necessarily abrasive — but the only way to know is to ask their consumer service for the value. A brand that refuses to communicate it already tells you something.

Manufacturers: if you hold a measurement performed to ISO 11609, send it to us with the test report — we will add it to the table and cite the source.

The table and the data on this page may be freely reused — article, blog, patient handout, press — under one condition: cite this page as the source, with a link.

How to find out your toothpaste's RDA

1. Look at the packaging. Some brands, mostly German and Swiss, print it. It is rare in France.
2. Ask the manufacturer. The consumer service has the figure. A brand that refuses to communicate it already tells you something.
3. Failing that, read the ingredient list. It does not give the number but indicates the type of abrasive: hydrated silica allows both gentle and abrasive formulations; calcium carbonate and above all uncalibrated sodium bicarbonate powder push the index up; hydroxyapatite stays at the bottom of the scale.
4. Beware of powders. Charcoal, baking soda or clay sold loose have no measured RDA: particle fineness varies from batch to batch, and nothing is calibrated.

Which threshold to aim for in your situation

What the RDA does not tell you

A low index does not make a good toothpaste. You also need:

• fluoride, at 1450 ppm for an adult — the only ingredient whose effectiveness against cavities is a matter of consensus;
• a targeted effect on your actual problem — stains, sensitivity or gums;
• a texture you can live with, because a toothpaste used twice a day beats a perfect toothpaste abandoned after a week.

Conversely, a high RDA is not automatically disqualifying for occasional, targeted use. It is repetition that wears teeth down, not isolated use.

Where ÉclatDent toothpastes stand

All our formulas are selected below the 70 threshold — the low-abrasivity class — with fluoride at 1450 ppm; that is the "ÉclatDent" line in the table above, under the same conditions as everyone else. It is an entry criterion for the catalogue: a formula that scours fast but wears the enamel produces a result that turns against you within months, since scratched enamel holds on to pigments more.

To choose for your situation, see our buying guide or the two-minute quiz.

Frequently asked questions

Does a low RDA clean less well?

No. Cleaning comes first from mechanical brushing and surfactants, not from abrasion. A high RDA speeds up the removal of stains already in place, at the enamel's expense.

Does baking soda have a high RDA?

Counter-intuitively, no — when it is calibrated. Fine pharmaceutical-grade sodium bicarbonate shows an RDA of about 7, because the crystal is soft and dissolves. The problem lies elsewhere: sold loose, particle size varies from batch to batch and coarse crystals scratch; and used alone it provides no fluoride.

What about activated charcoal?

It all depends on particle size. Raw powders are often too coarse and scratch enamel; in a formulated toothpaste, abrasivity is calibrated. Charcoal does not whiten, it polishes.

Is there an official list of RDA values by brand?

No. No body publishes a register, and the tables circulating online are often copied from one another, without source or date. That is exactly why our table cites its source line by line, gives ranges, and lists separately the brands with no published value rather than inventing a number for them.

What RDA should a whitening toothpaste have?

This is the category with the widest spread: from gentle, well-calibrated formulas to pastes above 150 — even 200 for some legacy "smokers" references. The simple rule: a daily whitening effect should come from gentle polishing (RDA < 70) and consistency — not from scouring. The 2026 trends all point the same way: optical correctors like purple toothpaste (zero abrasion, zero cleaning) on one side, remineralisation through fluoride or hydroxyapatite on the other — the whole ecosystem is converging on preserved enamel, which is exactly what the RDA index lets you verify.

Does the RDA change with the brush?

The product's value does not change, but real wear does. A hard brush and heavy pressure can make a gentle toothpaste more aggressive than a medium one used correctly.

This information is general in nature and does not replace the advice of a dental surgeon. In case of sensitivity, gum recession or visible wear, seek professional advice.

References

This page cites only sources that can be consulted. The links below were verified on 21 August 2026; where no stable public source exists, the reference is given as plain text, without a link, rather than invented.

How RDA is measured

• Hefferren, John J. "A Laboratory Method for Assessment of Dentrifrice Abrasivity", Journal of Dental Research, vol. 55, no. 4, July 1976, pp. 563-573. DOI: 10.1177/00220345760550040301. The founding paper of the RDA method (dentine abrasion measured by radiotracer), produced by the American Dental Association's Laboratory Abrasion Committee. Publisher's record.
• Maragliano-Muniz, Pamela. "Protected by a safe RDA: setting the record straight about toothpaste abrasivity", RDH Magazine, 13 December 2016. Traces the origin of the method (Kitchin & Robinson, 1948; Hefferren, 1976) and its adoption as an international standard from 1995 onwards. Read the article.

The standard and the thresholds

• ISO 11609, Dentistry — Dentifrices — Requirements, test methods and marking. Current edition: ISO 11609:2017, adopted as European standard EN ISO 11609:2017; the standard defines the measurement of relative dentine abrasivity (RDA) and relative enamel abrasivity (REA), along with the abrasivity limit. Paid document, distributed by ISO and national standards bodies. We give no link: the ISO catalogue pages could not be verified automatically when this section was written.
• American Dental Association, Toothpastes fact sheet (Oral Health Topics). Source of the 250 ceiling used on this page: "All dentifrices at or below 2.5 times the reference value, or 250 RDA, are considered safe and effective", along with the conditions for the ADA Seal. Read the fact sheet.

The 1995-2008 academic compilation

• Table rows marked "Academic compilation" reproduce RDA measurements of North American retail products, carried out using the Hefferren method and published between 1995 and 2008, since widely circulated in US dental continuing education.
• An essential point of honesty: there is no official registry of these values. The versions circulating today are PDF tables copied from one another, often without a date or a publication reference; we deliberately cite none of them as a primary source. The primary source to ask for is the test report from the laboratory that performed the measurement, following the method described by Hefferren (1976) and standardised by ISO 11609.
• This is why these values are marked "≈" and presented as range markers, not as certificates for the product on the shelf.

Values supplied by manufacturers

• CP GABA (elmex and meridol brands): RDA values supplied by the manufacturer for certain formulas, through its documentation for healthcare professionals and its consumer service. No stable public page published them verifiably at the time of writing, so we give no link.
• Haleon (Sensodyne brand, Pronamel range): same situation — a range value supplied by the manufacturer, with no verifiable public page at the time of writing. The Haleon professional page consulted on 21 August 2026 publishes no RDA value.
• These two rows are therefore reproduced as supplied by the manufacturers. We will replace this note with a link as soon as an official, stable publication is available.

Report an error or supply a measurement

• Any value in this table can be challenged or completed. Manufacturers, laboratories and practitioners: send us a measurement carried out to ISO 11609 together with the test report, and we will add it with the source cited. A value without a verifiable source does not enter the table — and a value in the table whose source does not hold up is removed from it.