3 Reasons to Make the Switch to Natural Toothpaste

On this journey of my families to healthy living, we’ve recently taken the plunge to dump our toothpaste. Yes, our whole family has dumped our bottles of Crest and Colgate and made the switch to natural toothpaste.

Before we get started, I’d like to thank Redmond Trading Company for sponsoring this post and sending me a lovely box of goodies to try out, including their awesome toothpaste.

Why You Should Switch to Natural Toothpaste

Let me give you the low-down on why you should make the switch. Here are three chemicals that are in most of the conventionally available toothpastes on the market today. Now, there may be other harmful ingredients in your toothpaste, but these are common in most.

1. Sodium Flouride

Despite the fact that dentists and doctors have touted the miraculous benefits of flouride for years now, these accolades are quite unfounded. Indeed, there is more to be lost than gained from fluoride. Fluoride is toxic and studies have certainly not proven that it helps your teeth (check out my post on fluoride in water for more info on that topic).

2. Glycerin

Most toothpastes both conventional and “natural” toothpastes have glycerin in them. Glycerin is a pretty controversial ingredient – some say it’s completely benign and others argue that it coats your teeth which in turn starves teeth of minerals. Either way, I can find no evidence that glycerin actually helps your teeth in any way. The only reason it appears to be included in toothpaste is to improve the texture of the paste. I’d rather err on the side of caution and keep the glycerin off my teeth and give them the best chance at remineralizing. Would you?

3. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

This ingredient is used in your toothpaste as a thickener and to help create that nice lathery soap you get in your mouth. Unfortunately, this chemical has been linked to a number of different health and environmental dangers. In addition to causing skin and eye irritation, sodium lauryl sulfate also alters the structure of skin which may mean more toxins are able to absorb into your body. It’s also a known aquatic toxin—which isn’t so good considering the amount that is washed down our sinks every year.

What Can You Use as an Alternative?

Are you convinced now? Ready to make the switch? We made the switch not long ago, towards the beginning of this year. There are a number of different options you have.

Make Your Own Toothpaste

You can make your own toothpaste. There are quite a few recipes out there. Here are a few recipes that look like they’d be fantastic options:

• Simply Smiles
• Red and Honey
• Nourishing Simplicity

Make Tooth Powder

Make tooth powder. Who says you have to brush your teeth with paste? Use one of the below recipes to make a powder to brush your teeth with:

• Heavy on Wholesome
• Whole New Mom

Natural Earthpaste

Earthpaste. Yup, this is the option we’ve been using. I’ve not delved into the land of make your own toothpaste yet. Why? Well, here is why I love earthpaste.

1. The kids use it and don’t complain. Though it doesn’t have the super sweet bubble gummy flavor that they were used to, they’ll still use it. It’s not even a fight to get them to use it. Earthpaste has a nice subtle flavor. I’ve used regular toothpaste since making the switch and the flavor now totally turns me off.

2. Earthpaste has no chemicals. None. It really is an all natural toothpaste. Check out the ingredients on the bottle of my cinnamon earthpaste:

Purified water, food grade redmond clay, xylitol, cinnamon, essential oil, redmond real salt, tea tree oil.

This stuff is so safe that my toddlers could eat the whole bottle and I wouldn’t have to call poison control. The same can’t be said for that bottle of fluoridated toothpaste in the medicine cabinet. Really, there is a reason for that big warning on that box of toothpaste.

3. It’s convenient. Let’s get real here. I’m a mom with a 9, 5, and twin 2 year olds. I homeschool. I own not 1, but 2 blogs. I cook real food and try to skip all of the convenience foods. I’m involved in my church. Yeah, I’m a busy lady. I’d rather spend my time making homemade grain-free muffins or writing a blog post than making toothpaste. For me, it’s worth the small extra cost to just purchase my own.

Have you ditched the conventionally prepared toothpastes yet? What kind of toothpaste do you use?