Determination of fluorides in pharmaceutical products for oral hygiene

Fluorides are common ingredients in pharmaceutical products for oral hygiene due to their recognized effect in the prevention of tooth decay. In dental products, fluorides can be added in several different forms, such as sodium fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate, tin fluoride, or in the form of different amines. This work describes potentiometric determination of fluorides in the samples of toothpastes and mouthwash. The method was optimized for the particular analytical purpose; namely, for the analysis of toothpastes and mouthwash by applying different sample preparation protocols depending on the fluoride source. Good recovery (93–103%) confirmed the correctness of the sample preparation procedures. Calculated limit of detection and limit of quantification for the optimized method were 1 × 10−3 mg/L and 2.8 × 10−3 mg/L fluoride, respectively. In the minority of the analyzed samples, calculated contents agreed well with the certified values, whereas the samples of mouthwash demonstrated better agreement.