When it comes to your teeth, you don't want to skimp. It's probably worth paying a few extra dollars for teeth supplies if it means a few extra years of teeth productivity. There's really nothing more miserable than tooth trouble. Not only is it a source of pain and irritation that originates in your face, so that you are aware of it every second of every minute of every hour of every day, it affects in a hugely significant way the one activity that no one can really do without. That is, eating. Eating, of course, is vital to one's survival, but it is also a source of incalculable pleasure, creativity, and social stimulus. Trust me, you want to hang on to your teeth. Even losing just one tooth can cramp your style pretty seriously, and a mouthful of rotten, dying teeth is a source of constant agony, embarrassment, disfigurement, and, last but not least, expense.
    Which naturally leads to our question. "Cheap toothpaste versus expensive toothpaste - does it really make a difference?"
    Yes, it does.
    Again, when we're talking about "cheap" versus "expensive" toothpaste, we're usually talking about a few dollars' difference, five or six at the most, for a product that people would have killed for even a hundred years ago. It seems silly, in other words, to grudge the price of single helping of fast food when it comes to your mouth, smile, and teeth. In the case of toothpaste, it's better to spend a little more. Toothbrushes, on the other hand, are more debatable. You can walk into your average grocery store and walk out with a relatively inexpensive, simple, old-fashioned, traditional toothbrush, or you can stagger out with a model that sets you back as much as if you'd bought a swamp cooler for your house, filled with blinking lights and buttons and speed and intensity options etc., or you could walk out with something that fits in the rather wide space between, and the conclusion of most dentists is: as long as you floss well, brush thoroughly, and don't skimp on time for either activity, you should be fine with just about any model of toothbrush. Some are easier on your gums than others, some are designed so the bristles reach hard to reach places, and so forth, but the really dedicated brusher will achieve a good result no matter what the instrument. Assuming by "instrument" we mean "some sort of modern-style toothbrush" and not "potato" or "stick."
    Those same dentists, though, when asked about toothpaste, have a different answer. All too often, cheap versions of toothpaste are actually worse for your teeth than otherwise, being composed of comparatively few of the essential ingredients for clean, disease-free teeth and gums. Usually people buy toothpaste to (1) clean their teeth, (2) whiten their smile, and (3) ease the discomfort of heat and cold if their teeth happen to particularly sensitive. If five or six dollars will effectively get you all three, as opposed to   going for a brand that may or may not get you (1), it's probably better to spend the five or six dollars.
    Now, in many cases you've got these big store chains that are starting to produce their own versions of famous kinds of toothpaste, headache medicine, and so forth, and usually a person can buy one of these generic brands without sacrificing any name-brand qualities. It's up to the person, though, to check labels, look at ingredients, and make comparisons, so as to ensure the quality of his experience. You may be able to find a cheap or generic brand of toothpaste that's as good as any of its more expensive brand-name counterparts. It's not only possibility, it's a likelihood as the big stores and the big brand-names compete more and more intensely with each other. But as a general rule, when it comes to expensive toothpaste versus cheap toothpaste, go for expensive. You wouldn't want to put an inferior, maybe even damaging gasoline in your car, and the same kind of caution should be applied to your teeth and the toothpaste you use to clean and beautify and protect them.