How to make natural toothpaste
Why do you need natural toothpaste?
Commercial toothpaste contains flouride
There is a lot of debate about Flouride and whether it does or doesn’t have negative effects on our bodies. It is a key ingredient in most tubes of toothpaste that you find in the grocery store today. It also gets added to the local water supplies in most parts of the U.S. I don’t want to start a big debate about whether it is good that it is put into our water supply or not, but just know that even the supporters of floride use agree that too much can lead to Fluorosis.
Personally, I try to avoid flouride and if you do you are well aware that there are few options in the grocery store. Even a lot of the natural and organic toothpastes seem to contain flouride.
Other artificial ingredients
But, regardless of where you stand on the flouride issue, there are many other artificial ingredients contained in commercial toothpaste, like sweeteners (usually saccharin), emulsifiers, preservatives, and artificial flavors. While they may not be as bad as drinking bleach, they aren’t benefiting your body.
Make your own toothpaste
I decided to do some digging and see what it actually takes to make your own toothpaste. It turns out it only requires a few natural and easy to find ingredients. I don’t have kids yet, but this seems like one of those projects that may be good to get your kids involved with. I know I never wanted to brush my teeth when I was 5, but this might have made it more fun!
Ingredients needed to make natural toothpaste
- Baking soda (works as a natural cleansing agent and it polishes and whitens your teeth as well!)
- Table salt
- Hydrogen Peroxide (naturally disinfects your mouth)
- Stevia (optional as sweetener)
- Peppermint oil (optional)
Both 4 and 5 can be found at a health food store
Steps to make your toothpaste
- Pour 1/2 cup baking soda into a mixing bowl
- Add a dash of salt
- Add 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide
- Add 1 drop of peppermint oil
- Add a dash of stevia (more if you want it sweeter)
- Mix it all up until it becomes paste like. You may have to add more hydrogen peroxide to get the right consistency.
A few notes about the homemade toothpaste
- You can store it in a plastic container to keep it from drying out.
- If you’re not into the peppermint flavor, you could try ground cinnamon or vanilla extract.
Another quick and easy option is to get Peppermint extract (1/4 tsp.) from the Spice section of the grocery store and mix it with 1 tbsp. of baking soda. Add a dash of salt, mix it up, and you are good to go.
In trying this out, I thought I added a dash of salt, apparently I added way too much because it tasted like the Gulf of Mexico. Next time, I am going to lay off the salt. Brushing with it felt nice and left my teeth feeling so fresh and so clean, clean! I think I am going to try it with cinnamon next time to see what that tastes like.
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Comments on How to make natural toothpaste »
“In trying this out, I thought I added a dash of salt, apparently I added way too much because it tasted like the Gulf of Mexico.”
–Now that made me laugh.
Interesting post, Bob. Jamey and I will have to try that.
That’s what I am here for tristan!
We’ve known about the dangers of fluoride for a while. I just use plain baking soda and my kids use Aerobic 07 drops. Can’t get my husband to give up his toothpaste, though. I’ll give this a try. I think we’d like the cinnamon or vanilla flavor.
And did you know that stevia is actually good for your teeth? There are whole books on the subject.
@kyria
I didn’t know that, but I still think it is funny that the FDA won’t allow it to be labeled as a sweetener
Interesting that you mentioned adding stevia to the toothpaste. I read another post this week about stevia as an alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners. Very interesting. Never new you could make toothpaste with a few ingredients. would be a fun school project.
I stumbled it.
Yea, stevia is a pretty amazing herb from everything I know about it… thanks for the stumble
This post has been included in the 141st Festival of Frugality at Almost Frugal, going live September 2, 2008. Please make sure to link back to the Festival and or submit it to sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, PF Buzz etc. Thanks for participating!
Flourosis is only a danger for children, and you can get flouride-free children’s toothpaste. The benefits of flouride for teeth are tested and well-understood, and as an adult I’ll not be passing on that.
History and “old fashion things” are fun, but I’ll not be giving up modern dental progress for the way things used to be.
@Don
I enjoy the modern conveniences, but as I discover that some of them come at such a tremendous cost (i.e. long term health problems) I am looking for ways to get back to the ways things used to be - before everything was made with chemicals…
As a poor loan laden dental student I read a few financial blogs to help me to use my money wisely. The rest of the time I study and “practice dentistry”. As a semi-educated individual on the subject I would ask you to please not advise people to make their own toothpaste. If you are reading this post please do not make your own toothpaste at home using a technique popular prior to WW2. People with a complete understanding of the De-mineralization –> Re-mineralization cycle of hydroxyapatite, Acid base chemistry, the Henderson hasselback equation, Solubility Product Constant (Ksp)
plaque formation, plaque composition and colonization, bacteria metabolic systems, cariogenic Micro flora, and Fluoride and its role in the re-mineralization of carious lesions and ………………..have developed modern day dentifrices as delivery mechanisms for chemotherapeutic agents to fight caries, gingivitis, and periodontitis. Hundreds, if not thousands of articles have been published in scientific journals about the benefits of fluoride in toothpaste and how it prevents tooth decay. Please use a fluoridated toothpaste with the ADA’s seal of approval signifying that evidence has been demonstrated scientifically from multiple long term studies that the product is both safe and effective. Use a pea sized amount and if you are worried don’t swallow any. Also, direct evidence from working with patients and one full year of oral pathology has convinced me never to put hydrogen peroxide in my mouth (It does not react very well with the oral mucosa) unless I am whitening my teeth with a safe and controlled commercial product. If you save $1 dollar every 4 months by making your own toothpaste it will take you 13 years to save enough money to have one filling placed in a dental school, and 66 years to save enough money to have one filling placed by private practice dentist. I don’t think it’s worth it.
@Q
I appreciate your perspective on this and while I don’t want to start a debate about modern vs. alternative health care, I can understand where you are coming from.
Thanks for your contribution to my “Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival.” I was advised many years ago by a periodontist to use baking soda and peroxide. Adding the stevia and pepperment oil just makes it more palatable and helps freshen the breath. Sounds like a good combination to me.
hey well i just wanted to say that toothpaste is what i will enjoy and i use the toothpaste like im suppose to
I want to now if you put food grad hydrogen peroxide in it
Or not. tabitha mohr
I tend to agree with Q, that it would be more frugal to buy good toothpaste and use very little of it. As the debate about alternative health, well I’ll leave it to those who really care about stuff like that.
I go way back to ditto the first comment on the Gulf of Mexico line - hilarious.
2 comments: I agree with Q - Much of my family is connected with dentistry in one way or another - he’s right.
The other comment is about stevia. I have used it for various applications - I even baked a cheesecake using stevia almost exclusively! No one noticed, although I did tell them, as I wanted to let the guests know what was so unique about dessert that night. I give my kids the occasional red dye treatment with Koolaid - but I make it with 1/4 teaspoon (yes, that’s right!)ultra-concentrated stevia along with 2 tablespoons sugar (this small amount of sugar simply takes away the wierd-ish aftertaste of the stevia) - guests/kids cannot tell the difference, are consuming a lot less sugar, and it’s better for oral health. (BTW - the stuff is easy to grow, as well)
There’s my 2 cents.
Once you make the toothpaste, how do you get it in the tube?