Yes, toothpaste. It has been my latest experiment. Why? I first saw it pop up in a search I was doing on coconut oil uses. I had never really thought about it before, but the more I read about it, the better it sounded, and the more cautious I became of store-bought toothpastes.
Am I sounding like a crazy DIY person yet? :-)
I got this bottle at Target in the traveling toiletries aisle.
I'm obsessed with my sticker-maker, too!
So with the research I did on toothpastes, here are two main ingredients in almost all store bought toothpaste that seem a little questionable:
Glycerin- It is what gives the toothpaste the creamy texture and what helps coat your teeth for "protection" as they say. It also takes about 20 rinses to wash it off, and it also stops re-enamelization, so your cavities can't self-heal. One doctor actually suggested using bar soap to clean your teeth after brushing, just to get the glycerin off and to promote re-enamelization; soap will also kill germs.
Fluoride- We have heard a lot about this in recent years, mainly about it being put into our drinking water for the health of your children's teeth. However, it is quite toxic to our bodies. Brace yourself for a bunch of facts. Fluoride has been linked to 113 known ailments. It is dangerous to kidneys, and many toothpastes now have warning labels on them to keep children from swallowing too much of it. This warning label is due to many lawsuits from parents whose children have been poisoned by fluoride-containing toothpastes. Also, fluoride in chemical form, like in water fluoridation, has been linked to causing cancer. I found that somewhere around 120,000 cancer patients die every year because of fluoride in their water. Fluoride is the smallest negative ion on Earth, which also means it is the most intensely negative particle on Earth. So... fluoride breaks the positive hydrogen bonds, which holds coils together in proteins and enzymes. In relation to your teeth, that means fluoride can cause receding gum lines; it severs the proteins holding your gums to your teeth. If that's not enough, how about this: Sodium fluoride is a by-product of aluminum manufacturing that is also found in rat poisons and industrial pesticides. Yummy, yummy toothpaste!
If you are curious about fluoride, re-enamelization, and healthy teeth, check out this website about Gerard Judd. Or, you could look at the FLUORIDE ALERT page. Healing Teeth Naturally also has some good information on the subject.
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SO, I was pretty intent on making my own toothpaste at this point. I looked around for the best recipe, but couldn't find one that sounded right to me. Many were simply oils and liquid soaps, many were full of baking soda and other powders I hadn't heard of, and a LOT had glycerin in them, to make it creamy. I wanted my toothpaste to be thick enough to stay on my brush, and I really didn't care if it was creamy, just as long as it was healthy and it worked!
So what's the deal with baking soda? One dentist explained that baking soda is great for whitening, just as a fine piece of sandpaper is great for polishing a wood table-top. It's good at first, but after a while, that table is going to be worn down, gritty, and just really terrible. Your teeth may get really white at first, but eventually it would wear your teeth down. A lot of recipes were half baking soda, or all baking soda and water. That's really bad for your pearlies! It is safe to add SOME baking soda, but not all. Mixed with other ingredients, it will simply whiten and clean your teeth.
One more note about store-bought toothpastes: If it claims to whiten, fight bad breath, fight gum disease, and/or more symptoms, you can bet that it is full of chemicals. I'd rather not brush with chemicals!
I never found a recipe that I really felt comfortable with, so I took the best of what I had learned and saw, and tried out my own recipe. And you know what, it actually works! I really like it! It has a different texture and taste than I'm used to, but I'm alright with that, because I know it's healthy! I was missing one ingredient that I plan to add in the future: Calcium Magnesium. It will really aid in the re-enamelization process of your teeth. Also, the dentists recommend taking calcium + Vitamin D pills to help this along.
Here is my recipe! If you try it out, will you let me know how it goes?
>*> Minty Coconut Toothpaste <*<
- 4 tsp Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid Castile soap
- 1/2 C. melted Coconut Oil (antibacterial, antimicrobial, soothing to gums, & smells great)
- 1 tsp Local Honey (helps fight cavities, they say! Add more if you want it sweeter)
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda (I did add a very little to whiten. It is so little compard to the other ingredients that it won't do damage to your teeth)
- 2 Tbsp of boiled water
- 2 Tbsp Arrowroot Powder (a tasteless thickener, like cornstarch, except much more gentle and easy for your teeth and gums; you can get this at health food stores, like Back to Nature)
Scoop it all into a zip-lock bag, snip one of the bottom corners off and "pipe" the paste into your air-tight container. I use the little empty travel bottles from walmart in the shaving aisle. You could store it in a jar if you want, but I wanted to be able to squeeze it out easily. I also store mine in the fridge, which helps the coconut oil stay a little more firm.
And that's all! Minty Coconut Toothpaste! I was pretty impressed! It does have a somewhat "soap" after-taste, because of the Castile, but with two rinses with water, it pretty much goes away. I would rather have that than fluoride, though. So I figure it's a good trade-off. Even the Jess Man liked it!
Let me know what you think! And if you're local and interested, let me know; next time I make up a batch I can make extra for you to try!
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