Science has already ruined facial scrubs, and your toothpaste might be next. In the last few years, a lot of popular toothpaste brands started adding little pieces of plastic to their products. The idea was that these "microbeads" would really scrub your teeth clean. Instead, they could be ruining your gums.
A dental hygienist in Texas recently explained that the polyethylene plastic that's in your toothpaste is "for decorative purposes only." Because the beads don't disintegrate, they can settle in-between your gums and teeth, trapping bacteria that can lead to a serious infection. Pretty gross, huh?
For now, you can take this news with a grain of salt. The American Dental Association says the risk isn't significant enough to sound the alarms. But, Crest isn't taking any chances — the company's making moves to be microbead-free by 2016.