Conclusion

My hypothesis was proven correct, because the Maximum cavity protection toothpaste cleaned the stains off the egg the most which left it with a whiter finish! In this test I found out that the toothbrush does most of the work because the difference in the shade of whiteness between the toothpaste brushed eggs and the water brushed eggs was not as significant as I would of expected.

Results

(In this test I used coffee stained eggs to act as our teeth.)
If you compare the toothpaste brushed eggs and the water brushed eggs there isn't much of a difference. The Toothpaste brushed eggs were slightly whiter than the water brushed ones. This proves that the toothbrush does most of the work! Most people buy toothpaste because they think it cleans your teeth really well, but most of it is just advertising! It doesn't clean as well as we think it does because it only has 2 chemicals in the toothpaste that actually clean your teeth!

When I tested my Mum's toothpaste, Oral MD, it turned out that it didn't clean your teeth as well as the water and maximum cavity protection toothpaste tests. This means that the maximum cavity protection toothpaste cleaned the stains off the eggs the best but was closely followed by the water test which only had a slight difference in whiteness.

Application - Why I need to do this

I think this experiment is important because we brush our teeth twice a day and this is a major part of our daily lives. Everyone wants to have a good smile, but does brushing your teeth 2 times a day, make much of a difference? What if I find out that toothpaste doesn't clean the stains off your teeth as well as we think it does. It could just be a big advertising gimmick!!! I might find out that brushing your teeth twice a day isn't enough to keep a healthy looking smile, you might have to clean your teeth 3 or 4 times a day! So it would be really interesting to find out the results of this experiment!!!

Variables

Control - things you need to keep the same:

• Amount of water - by soaking the toothbrush in water for 10 seconds
• Brand of eggs
• The time the eggs are soaked in coffee
• Strength of coffee
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste

Test - what am I testing:

• Change between toothpaste and water
• You could also change between different toothpastes

Measured - what you are looking for:

• I am looking to see if toothpaste cleans the stains off your teeth better than toothpaste
  

My mini Science Fair board

This is my mini science fair board it is about the size of a A4 sheet of paper!!! It might not look small but it is!!

Method - How to test it

Staining the egg:
1.Place egg into pot filled with water
2.Boil water in pot until bubbly
3.Boil for 5 minutes
4.Take the egg(s) out of the pot and run under cold water
5.Boil your kettle, meanwhile you can place 2 teaspoons of coffee into a small and tall round container (preferably plastic or glass)
6.Pour one cup of hot water from the kettle into the same container
7.Wait for the coffee to cool down before you place the egg into it.
8. Soak the egg(s) in coffee for 11 hours and 45 minutes (8:00pm - 7:45am)

Testing
1.Brush the egg with Colgate's 'Maximum Cavity Protection toothpaste' for 200 up and down strokes. (up and down count as one stroke)
2. Take another coffee soaked egg and soak the toothbrush in a cup of water for 10 seconds. Brush for 200 strokes.
3. Record your results.
4. Repeat these steps three times and record your results for each test

Apparatus - Materials you need

You will need:

• 7 eggs
  
• 2 toothbrushes
• 1 tube of Maximum Cavity Protection toothpaste
• 1 cup of cold tap water
• Kettle (with water inside)
  
• Measuring cup
• Coffee
• Teaspoon
  
• Pot
• Stove
• Timer
  

Hypothesis - My guess

I think that toothpaste will clean your teeth better because it has dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, which helps remove the plaque and food stains off your teeth. It also contains Sodium Monofluorphosphate, which forms a protective shell around your teeth, so that bacteria has a difficult time causing tooth decay.

Aim - What I am trying to find out.

Does toothpaste clean your teeth better than cleaning with just normal tap water?