Printed from smellbook.com/smells/toothpaste. This printout keeps the entry for Toothpaste itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A cool, clean oral-care smell strongly associated with mint, freshness and daily routine.
Toothpaste smells cool, clean and minty, with a sharp, tingling freshness that reaches the back of the nose. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, molecules, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT TOOTHPASTE
Toothpaste smells cool, clean and minty, with a sharp, tingling freshness that reaches the back of the nose. A sweet background softens the bite, and some kinds add spice, herbal or fruity notes. The smell is strong at first, then fades into a light coolness on the breath. It is easily confused with mint sweets or chewing gum.
Most people meet it in the bathroom as part of a morning and evening routine, on the brush or in the sink afterwards. It also lingers on breath after brushing and drifts from washbags when travelling.
Typical settings: bathroom, morning routine, oral-care product.
SmellBook links it to one place page: see it in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Menthol in toothpaste. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
One molecule is named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives it. The claim does not say the molecule this claim names shapes the smell.
Toothpaste is a product-category profile; its smell varies by formulation and flavor system.
SmellBook records one written comparison with other smells: see it in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: Is fresh the same as clean? and Is citrus a kind of fresh?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Used in products ranging from confectionery to oral-care products such as toothpaste, menthol is one of the most important flavouring additives; it is a cyclic monoterpene alcohol with well-known cooling characteristics and a residual minty smell from remnants of the oil from which it was obtained.
A review of menthol; it does not analyse particular toothpastes, whose flavours vary.
How this was found: Broad account. A broad statement about how an aroma forms, how it is studied or what a term means, rather than one measurement. Source: review of earlier studies.
Guy P.P. Kamatou, Ilze Vermaak, Alvaro M. Viljoen & Brian M. Lawrence
DOI 10.1016/j.phytochem.2013.08.005Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. The claim does not say this molecule shapes the smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Toothpaste.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0068 — Toothpastesmellbook:smell:toothpastehttps://smellbook.com/smells/toothpasteSmellBook. (2026). Toothpaste (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:toothpaste. https://smellbook.com/smells/toothpaste@misc{smellbook_toothpaste_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Toothpaste},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:toothpaste},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/toothpaste}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-toothpaste-r3 TI - Toothpaste AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/toothpaste N1 - SB-0068; smellbook:smell:toothpaste; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/toothpaste ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Toothpaste is a product-category profile; its smell varies by formulation and flavor system.
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗