Tartar is plaque that has hardened. Once it is on your teeth, no toothpaste takes it off; a hygienist has to. What a tartar control toothpaste can do is slow the next layer, so less builds up between cleanings, and the ingredient that does it is printed on the tube. We compared five tubes from Crest, Colgate, Sensodyne and hello by that ingredient, including a pick for sensitive teeth and a fluoride-free one. For the cleaning routine around the paste, see our guide on how to remove tartar.
How we researched this page: We read the Drug Facts label for each tube on the National Library of Medicine’s DailyMed or the maker’s site, checked ADA’s full Seal list, and read the published trials and reviews on tartar-control ingredients. We read 30 Reddit threads in full (67 in all), mostly from r/DentalHygiene and r/askdentists, and set aside two accounts whose TartarEnd praise looked planted. We checked each Amazon listing’s rating pool. We did not test these toothpastes.
Evidence Receipt
- Tartar pastes slow new tartar; they do not remove it. A review of the trials found these pastes reduce tartar above the gumline “but not subgingival calculus after a scaling,” with reductions from 9% to 50% in trials that mostly ran three or six months (Barbakow and Imfeld). Trials start with a professional cleaning and measure what grows back. The ADA says tartar “can only be removed through cleaning performed by a dental professional” (ADA).
- Three ingredient classes are well supported. A systematic review of 32 trial reports concluded that pastes with “pyrophosphates, zinc compounds and/or co-polymers were effective in significantly reducing calculus scores” (Netuveli and Sheiham).
- Many trials were run or funded by the makers. Procter & Gamble or Colgate-Palmolive staff or funding appear on many of the trials we read, and none tested the exact tubes on this page.
- No toothpaste carries an ADA Seal for tartar. ADA’s Seal list, read in full, names no toothpaste for a tartar or calculus claim; products on the list are accepted for cavities, gums, plaque, sensitivity, enamel erosion, stains or breath.
- Not every trial finds an effect. In a 12-week placebo-controlled trial of 80 people, a pyrophosphate paste reduced plaque but made no significant difference to tartar (Hong et al.).
- The trade-off is irritation. In a double-blind trial, tartar-control pastes caused significantly more mouth-lining reactions (ulcers, peeling, redness) than ordinary pastes (Kowitz et al.), and a review of mouth-peeling cases traced 21 to SLS and 2 to tartar-control pastes (Pérez-López et al.).
Crest Pro-Health Advanced Deep Clean: Editor’s Pick
Crest Pro-Health Advanced Deep Clean Mint Toothpaste (5.1 oz, 2-Pack)
Best for: Most people who build tartar and also want help with gums and sensitivity
- Stannous fluoride 0.454% (cavities, gums, sensitivity)
- Sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc lactate
- Two 5.1 oz tubes
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Why We Recommend It
We pick Crest Pro-Health for most people because one tube covers tartar, cavities, gums and sensitivity, and its tartar pairing of stannous fluoride and sodium hexametaphosphate has two six-month trials behind it. In the first, which named Crest Pro-Health, people using it had 54% less new tartar than a triclosan-paste group at three months and 56% less at six (Schiff et al.). The second, of the same pairing against a plain paste, found 50% less at three months and 55% at six (Winston et al.). P&G staff ran or co-authored both. Crest’s ingredient label for Advanced Deep Clean lists both ingredients, plus zinc lactate.
A hexametaphosphate paste may also be easier on the mouth than a pyrophosphate one. In a four-day P&G trial of two complete pastes (not this tube), 9% of people using a hexametaphosphate paste had new soft-tissue findings, against 21% on a pyrophosphate paste (Gerlach). This tube’s label lists it as anticavity, antigingivitis and antisensitivity, and it sells in a two-pack from Amazon at about $3.50 a tube.
Key Features
- Stannous fluoride 0.454% (anticavity, antigingivitis, antisensitivity)
- Sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc lactate
- Two 5.1 oz tubes, mint
Who It’s Best For
Anyone who builds tartar and also has sensitive teeth or gum inflammation. If a hygienist has told you to use a stannous fluoride paste, this one also carries a tartar ingredient. Bleeding gums can be a sign of gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease (MouthHealthy), so have them checked by a dentist rather than relying on a paste.
Potential Downsides
It contains SLS, the cause named most often in published mouth-peeling cases. Stannous fluoride has at least one critic on Reddit, who wrote: “It’s absolutely stannous fluoride. I can’t use ANYTHING that has it without my cheek skin sloughing off.” Its Drug Facts label warns that stannous fluoride may cause surface staining. Hexametaphosphate also has fewer trials behind it than pyrophosphate. The trials tested pastes with the same two ingredients but do not publish full formulas, so we cannot confirm this tube matches them. The listing’s ratings go back to 2019, and the oldest label record we found for this formula dates from 2022.
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Crest Baking Soda & Peroxide with Tartar Protection: Best Value
Crest Plus Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening with Tartar Protection Toothpaste (5.7 oz, 2-Pack)
Best for: Anyone who wants a classic pyrophosphate tartar paste for the lowest price
- Sodium fluoride 0.243%
- Tetrasodium pyrophosphate for tartar
- Baking soda and calcium peroxide
- Two 5.7 oz tubes
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Why We Recommend It
Pyrophosphate is one of the most-studied tartar ingredients, and this is the cheapest way we found to buy it from a seller you can trust: about $3 a tube in a two-pack sold by Amazon. The Drug Facts label lists sodium fluoride as the active ingredient and tetrasodium pyrophosphate among the rest. In a 1998 trial of 456 people, a 3.3% pyrophosphate Crest cut new tartar by 29% at three months and 32% at six against regular Crest (Segreto et al.).
It also has the deepest rating record here: 4.7 stars across 11,713 ratings, shared only by other sizes of the same paste.
Key Features
- Sodium fluoride 0.243%
- Tetrasodium pyrophosphate
- Baking soda and calcium peroxide for surface stains
- Two 5.7 oz tubes
Who It’s Best For
People who want a plain, cheap tartar paste and have never had trouble with tartar-control formulas.
Potential Downsides
It has both SLS and pyrophosphate, which the ADA lists among reported toothpaste irritants (ADA). We found no owner discussion of this tube on Reddit. The peroxide and baking soda are there for stains, not tartar.
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Colgate Total Active Prevention: Best Colgate Pick
Colgate Total Active Prevention Clean Mint Toothpaste (5.1 oz, 4-Pack)
Best for: Colgate users who want tartar control with gum and sensitivity protection
- Stannous fluoride 0.454%
- Tetrasodium pyrophosphate for tartar
- On ADA's Seal list for cavities, gingivitis, plaque and sensitivity
- Four 5.1 oz tubes
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Why We Recommend It
Colgate Total no longer contains triclosan, which the ADA says has not been sold in US toothpaste since 2019 (ADA). Today’s Total is a stannous fluoride paste, and its tartar ingredient is tetrasodium pyrophosphate, the same family Crest uses. It is also the one pick on this page that ADA’s Seal list names by product, for cavities, gingivitis, plaque above the gumline, sensitivity, surface stains and bad breath. Crest Pro-Health appears there only as a family name.
It is sold by Amazon in a four-pack at about $5 a tube, and holds 4.8 stars across 3,295 ratings. Colgate switched this tube to the Active Prevention formula in late 2024, so the listing spent roughly half its life selling the earlier Total, and some of those ratings are for that paste, which had the same tartar ingredient plus zinc phosphate.
Key Features
- Stannous fluoride 0.454%
- Tetrasodium pyrophosphate
- Four 5.1 oz tubes
Who It’s Best For
People who prefer Colgate, or whose dentist recommended Colgate Total for their gums.
Potential Downsides
It contains SLS, and like other stannous fluoride pastes it may cause surface staining. Tartar is not among the claims ADA lists for it, and we found no published tartar trial of this formula, so its tartar case rests on the ingredient class. Colgate’s Plaque Pro Release, often sold as a tartar paste, makes its “dissolves” claim about plaque on the US label, not tartar.
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Sensodyne Extra Whitening: Best for Sensitive Teeth, No SLS
Sensodyne Extra Whitening Cool Mint Toothpaste (4 oz, 4-Pack)
Best for: People with sensitive teeth who want a tartar paste without SLS
- Potassium nitrate 5% and sodium fluoride
- Pentasodium triphosphate; no SLS
- Listing: formulated to reduce tartar build-up
- Four 4 oz tubes
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Why We Recommend It
Tartar pastes can make teeth sensitive in some people (see the section on stinging below), and this Sensodyne adds potassium nitrate for sensitivity to a paste with no SLS. A review of published mouth-peeling cases blamed SLS far more often than tartar ingredients (Pérez-López et al.), and a flaired hygienist on r/DentalHygiene called SLS “a huge culprit for tissue sloughing.” This Sensodyne’s Drug Facts label lists no SLS. It also carries sodium fluoride for cavities and pentasodium triphosphate (a tartar-control phosphate), and its Amazon listing says it is formulated to reduce tartar build-up.
It is sold by Amazon in a four-pack at about $5 a tube, with 4.8 stars across 6,662 ratings.
Key Features
- Potassium nitrate 5%, sodium fluoride 0.24%
- Pentasodium triphosphate
- No sodium lauryl sulfate
- Four 4 oz tubes, Cool Mint
Who It’s Best For
People with sensitive teeth who want a tartar paste without SLS.
Potential Downsides
We found no published tartar trial of this formula, so it is the weakest tartar case on the page; buy it for sensitivity and comfort first. “SLS-free” is not “irritant-free”: it still contains cocamidopropyl betaine, which the ADA lists among reported toothpaste irritants. A few Reddit users report peeling on whitening Sensodyne pastes (“Sensodyne regular does, especially the whitening ones!”), though none named this tube, so it is not a sure fix for peeling. If peeling is your main problem, our best SLS-free toothpaste page covers more options.
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hello Antiplaque + Whitening: Best Fluoride-Free
hello Antiplaque + Whitening Fluoride Free Toothpaste (5 oz, 3-Pack)
Best for: People who want a fluoride-free, SLS-free tartar paste, including TartarEnd shoppers
- Zinc citrate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate
- No fluoride, no SLS, no peroxide
- Peppermint with tea tree oil
- Three 5 oz tubes
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Why We Recommend It
If you came looking for TartarEnd, a fluoride-free paste that is currently unavailable on Amazon, or you simply want fluoride-free, hello’s Antiplaque + Whitening is the option we found with studied tartar ingredients: hello lists zinc citrate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate on its ingredient list. Zinc citrate pastes left 14% less new tartar than a control paste in a large three-month trial (Segreto et al.) and 32% less than a plain fluoride paste over 12 weeks in a smaller one with four times the zinc (Sowinski et al.). Those trials used different comparison pastes from the Crest ones, so the numbers do not rank the brands, and hello does not print how much zinc citrate it uses. It is SLS-free and sold by Amazon at about $5 a tube.
Key Features
- Zinc citrate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate
- No fluoride, SLS, peroxide or artificial sweeteners
- Peppermint, tea tree oil and coconut oil
- Three 5 oz tubes
Who It’s Best For
Adults who have decided against fluoride and want a tartar paste they can actually buy.
Potential Downsides
No fluoride means no cavity protection from the paste. hello’s “crushes tartar” wording on Amazon goes further than the evidence: no paste removes tartar that has already formed. Like most mint pastes it uses essential oils (peppermint and tea tree), which the ADA says can rarely irritate the mouth. The listing is young, first on Amazon in December 2025, and we found no owner discussion of this formula on Reddit.
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What Tartar Paste Can and Can’t Do
It slows new tartar above the gumline. It does not remove tartar that is already there, and in the trials it did not reduce tartar below the gumline (Barbakow and Imfeld). The ingredients work by keeping fresh plaque from hardening, so it brushes off before it sets.
Dental professionals on Reddit say the same, with less patience. “No, a toothbrush abrasive enough to remove dental calculus would absolutely ruin your enamel,” one flaired hygienist answered someone asking for a paste that would slowly remove it. A flaired dentist, on a 146-upvote comment, warned: “Do not use those “at home scaler kits”. You don’t know what you’re doing.” And on the benefit: “Tartar control toothpaste will help some, but don’t expect miracles,” a flaired hygienist wrote. If you can see or feel tartar now, book a cleaning, then use the paste to slow the next round. If cost or nerves are what’s stopping you, see our guides to dental cleaning costs and going back after years away.
What to Look For on the Tube
On fluoride pastes, the tartar ingredient is listed under inactive ingredients on the Drug Facts label, not with the active ingredients. Look for:
- Pyrophosphate (tetrasodium, disodium or tetrapotassium pyrophosphate): one of the most-studied tartar ingredients. Crest’s Baking Soda & Peroxide line, Colgate Total and hello use it. So does Crest Tartar Protection, the classic Crest tartar tube, but Crest’s site lists its Whitening version as discontinued and the regular paste sells on Amazon only through a third-party seller at about $14 a tube, so we left it out.
- Sodium hexametaphosphate: Crest Pro-Health’s tartar ingredient, studied with stannous fluoride in two six-month trials, both linked to the maker.
- Zinc citrate or other zinc salts: studied and effective in the trials we read.
- Pentasodium triphosphate (also called sodium tripolyphosphate): a related phosphate in Sensodyne Extra Whitening, with no tartar trial of its own that we found.
Keep fluoride in the tube unless you have a reason not to. Words like “removes” or “dissolves” tartar on a box are a reason for doubt, not confidence.
If Your Mouth Peels or Stings
Soreness and peeling come up often in the threads we read, and one flaired hygienist there advised staying away from tartar-control and whitening pastes for that reason. In a double-blind trial of 92 dental and dental hygiene students, tartar-control pastes caused more mouth-lining reactions than ordinary pastes (Kowitz et al.); a small pilot found a pyrophosphate paste may cause tooth sensitivity (Lavigne et al.); and a series of 20 patients developed a rash around the mouth that improved after they stopped a tartar-control paste (Beacham et al.).
In published peeling cases, SLS is a more common suspect than the tartar ingredient. “The vast majority of people with this issue are reacting to SLS,” a flaired dentist wrote on r/askdentists, and a review of published peeling cases points the same way (21 SLS cases against 2 from tartar pastes). That review cannot tell you what is causing your own symptoms, but an SLS-free paste is a simple first switch. A flaired hygienist on Reddit suggested Pronamel, and our best SLS-free toothpaste page covers more options. If the problem continues on an SLS-free paste, the tartar ingredient or the flavour may be the cause; stop it and tell your dentist.
Why Some People Build Tartar Fast
“I just went to the dentist and had a cleaning 2.5 weeks ago and I already have tartar developing again,” one r/askdentists poster wrote. A common spot is the inside of the lower front teeth: “That’s where your salivary glands are located. Most common spot for buildup,” a flaired dentist explained. Hygienists on Reddit point to saliva chemistry, medications, dry mouth, mouth breathing and crowded teeth, not only brushing.
What helps beyond the paste: angle the brush at the inside of the lower front teeth, clean between teeth every day, and ask your dentist about more frequent cleanings. The ADA says there is “no one-size-fits-all” schedule and that some people need more visits than once or twice a year (MouthHealthy). Electric toothbrushes remove more plaque than manual ones in Cochrane’s review; of its three trials that measured tartar, two found no difference (Yaacob et al.). Our tartar guide covers the full routine.
What About TartarEnd, Periogen and LivFresh?
TartarEnd sells itself on dissolving tartar. Its own site offers testimonials, patents and a conference talk, not a published trial, and its Amazon listing is currently unavailable. The professionals in the threads we read were skeptical: “This product seems very gimmicky,” one flaired hygienist wrote in 2022. Another, on DMI, one of the ingredients TartarEnd describes, wrote in 2026: “For DMI: No good quality research. Doesnt mean it doesnt work though.” Owner reports we could trust were mixed to flat (“it’s been two weeks and no difference”); the loudest praise came from accounts that looked planted.
Periogen makes similar claims. “Periogen will not remove tartar in the slightest. It needs to be removed physically by cleaning with your dentist or hygienist,” a flaired dentist wrote.
LivFresh gel uses edathamil (a form of EDTA) instead of a classic tartar ingredient. Its published trials measured plaque and gum inflammation, with good results, but none measured tartar, so it is not on this list as a tartar pick. Our LivFresh review covers the studies and which version to buy.
Community vs. Evidence
| Topic | What Reddit says | What the evidence says |
|---|---|---|
| Can a paste remove tartar? | No, in 11 threads, including flaired dentists and hygienists | Trials measure slower regrowth after a cleaning; the ADA says only a professional cleaning removes it |
| Does tartar paste help? | “Some” or “to a degree,” in 7 threads | A 1989 review found 9 to 50% less new tartar above the gumline; many trials were maker-run |
| Peeling and stinging | Raised in 13 threads; flaired dentists blame SLS | Tartar pastes caused more reactions in one trial; SLS caused most peeling cases in a review |
| TartarEnd | Professionals skeptical; trusted owner reports mixed | No published trial found |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can toothpaste remove tartar that’s already there?
No. Tartar is mineralized and bonded to the tooth, and the trials behind these pastes measure how much grows back after a cleaning, not removal. A hygienist removes existing tartar; the paste helps keep the next layer smaller.
Do I need a tartar control toothpaste at all?
Not everyone does. If your hygienist finds little tartar at each visit, an ordinary fluoride toothpaste and good brushing are enough. Tartar pastes earn their place for people who build tartar quickly between cleanings, and the benefit is modest, so pair one with cleaning between your teeth and regular cleanings.
Does TartarEnd really work?
There is no published trial showing that it does, and the dental professionals we read were skeptical. Owner reports we could trust were mixed. If you want a fluoride-free paste with studied tartar ingredients, the hello pick above is one option.
Is there a non-mint tartar control toothpaste for kids?
We did not find one that met our bar. One parent on r/askdentists wrote that “My daughter’s dentist said tartar control toothpaste is a MUST for her” while the child “hates mint.” A UK dental researcher has suggested children under 12 avoid pyrophosphate pastes until there is more research (Levine), which is one view, not a guideline. Ask your child’s dentist which paste and flavour they recommend.
Does mouthwash help with tartar?
It can. The ADA’s consumer site says therapeutic mouthwash can “reduce the speed that tartar (hardened plaque) forms on the teeth” (MouthHealthy). Like toothpaste, it slows new tartar and does not remove what is already there.
How often should I get a cleaning if I build tartar fast?
It depends on your mouth, so ask your dentist. The ADA says some people need more than one or two visits a year. Cochrane found six-monthly cleanings reduce tartar slightly more than yearly ones (Lamont et al.).