The Seal of Acceptance WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ‘ADA ACCEPTED’?
The American Dental Association (ADA) stamps its seal on all kinds of dental products, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, denture cream, gum, and more. But what does the ADA Seal of Acceptance mean? The ADA Seal of Acceptance was first used in 1931 as an act of regulation. At the time, numerous dental products were flooding the market. Sellers, including those who would fit the description of snake oil salesmen, were peddling all sorts of “miraculous” teeth-cleaning products to “cure cavities” and “regrow lost teeth.” In response, and to help direct the general public to legitimate oral care products, the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs put together a series of guidelines that defined what legitimate oral care products were. The organization used the guidelines to determine if a product was safe and worked as intended. Today, over 200 products bear the ADA Seal of Acceptance. To become ADA Accepted, a product must meet certain criteria. First, the product must be put through rigorous clinical or laboratory studies. This is the responsibility of the product maker. The ADA does not conduct these studies itself and relies on outside consultants when evaluating products. These experts are from all areas of the dental industry, including microbiology, toxicology, chemistry, and dental materials. They review the results of those studies to determine whether or not that product meets its standards of “safety and efficacy according to the product category developed by the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs.”
If the ADA is satisfied that the product meets its safety and efficacy requirements, it will award the seal for a five-year period. In that time, the manufacturer of the product can use that seal on the product they submitted for acceptance, such as toothpaste. However, if the manufacturer decides to change the product — for example, they change the ingredients — the seal is no longer valid and the company must send in new research on the safety and effectiveness of the updated product. If you see the ADA Accepted logo on a product, it means that item has gone through a lot of research to determine that it does exactly what the packaging says it does. It’s just another way consumers can protect themselves from misleading claims and false advertising. That said, just because a toothpaste or mouthwash doesn’t have an ADA Accepted designation doesn’t mean it’s bad. There are some products the ADA will not accept under any circumstance. This includes any toothpaste that does not contain fluoride. The most important thing you can do as a consumer is read the label of any oral care product you buy to understand what it is you are purchasing and if it meets your own standards.
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