Consumption upgrading keeps advancing in the personal care industry. Consumers put forward higher requirements on toothpaste for cleaning power, abrasive texture, paste stability and oral mildness. As the mainstream abrasive in toothpaste formulations, silica features moderate hardness, porous structure and strong chemical inertness, and performs multiple functions in toothpaste systems including abrasive cleaning, thickening and thixotropy control, odor adsorption and so on. Compared with traditional abrasives such as calcium carbonate, silica has mild hardness. It can effectively remove dental plaque and extrinsic pigment without excessive wear on enamel. Meanwhile, it delivers excellent thixotropic performance. The paste hardly flows when standing and features good extrusion molding property. Once contacting water during brushing, it disperses rapidly and brings smooth and delicate using experience. However, the particle size, oil absorption value and soluble salt content of silica powder will directly affect the viscosity and grinding texture of toothpaste paste. Improper powder selection may easily lead to defects such as hard paste, rough particles and water separation. Balancing abrasion value, grinding hand feel and storage stability of paste has become a key research topic for toothpaste formulation development.

　　Different types of toothpaste impose differentiated requirements on powder performance of silica. Basic cleaning toothpaste focuses on cost performance and adopts general silica abrasives to balance cleaning effect and paste stability. Whitening toothpaste requires silica with high abrasion value to gently remove pigment deposits such as coffee and tea stains on tooth surfaces. The particle size of powder shall be controlled to ensure no stinging gritty sensation during brushing. Transparent gel toothpaste relies on high-transparency silica whose refractive index matches humectant systems such as glycerin and sorbitol, so as to realize crystal clear visual effect of paste. Anti-sensitive toothpaste needs silica grades with low irritation and low soluble salt content to reduce stimulation to dentinal tubules and improve formulation mildness. According to different toothpaste formulation systems, silica manufacturers adjust powder pore volume, particle size distribution, abrasion value and surface properties, and develop special grades including abrasive type, thickening type and transparent type to adapt to production processes of various toothpaste products.

　　Toothpaste preparation and homogenization processes directly determine the application effect of silica. Vacuum paste making and high-speed homogenizing stirring are generally adopted for toothpaste production, where silica is mixed and dispersed with humectants, foaming agents, flavors, sweeteners and other raw materials. Stirring speed, feeding sequence and powder pre-mixing method all affect the dispersion state of silica in polyol systems. Insufficient dispersion leads to coarse particles formed by powder agglomeration, bringing gritty foreign body sensation during tooth brushing. Excessive dispersion will destroy the particle structure of silica, resulting in declined abrasive performance and out-of-control paste viscosity. Many toothpaste formulators encounter ideal paste state in laboratory samples, yet face reduced transparency, viscosity drift and water separation after mass production. The root cause is that the dispersion stability of silica in large-scale paste preparation systems cannot replicate small-scale test conditions. Professional silica suppliers provide supporting process guidance for toothpaste formulations, assisting customers to optimize feeding sequence and adjust homogenization parameters to lower quality risks brought by scaling up toothpaste production.

　　Diversified consumption demands for oral care keep driving steady growth of the market for special silica for toothpaste. In the past, special silica used for high-end transparent toothpaste and whitening toothpaste long relied on imports, with high procurement cost and long sample delivery cycle. In recent years, domestic precipitated silica enterprises continuously optimize synthesis and purification technologies. Domestic toothpaste-grade silica has achieved continuous improvement in key indicators such as abrasive performance, transparency, batch stability and low soluble salt. Leveraging advantages of fast local supply and on-site formulation debugging services, domestic silica has gradually entered the supply chain of leading domestic oral care brands. With continuous launch of new products such as fluoride-free toothpaste, herbal toothpaste and repairing toothpaste, the application scenarios of silica keep expanding.

　　Market competition of silica for toothpaste has shifted from simple price competition to competition of comprehensive oral formulation solutions. Toothpaste formulation systems are complex, and polyols, flavors and active functional ingredients will interact with silica. The pH value, soluble salt and heavy metal content of silica must be strictly controlled to avoid reaction with functional ingredients that causes flavor discoloration and failure of active substances. High-end toothpaste products enforce strict requirements on batch consistency of raw materials. Minor fluctuations in silica indicators will alter paste viscosity, transparency and abrasive hand feel. Many domestic silica products show excellent performance in small sample tests, yet suffer from large indicator fluctuations during continuous mass production, making it hard to pass supply chain audits of leading oral care enterprises. Silica enterprises need to build application laboratories for personal care to carry out paste stability tests, transparency tests, abrasion value detection and oral compatibility evaluation. They deeply participate in customers’ new product R&D and transform from powder raw material suppliers into oral care formulation solution providers.

　　In the long run, public awareness of oral health keeps rising. Toothpaste products are evolving toward mild whitening, dentin repair, transparent gel and low irritation. The market of special silica for toothpaste maintains stable expansion. Future R&D of silica focuses on special grades with low ions, controllable abrasion value and high transparency. Customized powder will be developed for segmented categories such as repairing toothpaste and children’s toothpaste. Silica enterprises capable of precisely regulating the microscopic particle structure of silica, familiar with vacuum paste making and homogenizing stirring processes and equipped with complete paste application evaluation capabilities will deeply bind downstream oral care customers and tap long-term stable growth space in the personal care track.