Stabilized toothpastes containing an enzyme

A toothpaste formulation consisting of essentially of about 0.2 to 10 percent by weight of a gelling agent and about 20 to 75 percent by weight of a liquid vehicle proportioned to form a creamy mass, about 0.5 to 5 percent by weight of a water-soluble organic detergent, about 20 to 75 percent by weight of a dentally acceptable polishing agent, at least about 0.05 percent by weight of the neutral protease of Bacillus subtilis, and a stabilizer for retention of protease activity consisting essentially of about 0.1 to 0.5 percent by weight of a protein having an average molecular weight ranging from about 10,000 up to about 300,000 selected from the group consisting of partially hydrolized edible proteins and edible proteins and about 0.1 to 1.0 percent by weight of a group IIA metal ion salt.