Sunday, March 17, 2013

Homemade Toothpaste

Toothpaste! It's something you grew up using and it's always worked, so why change something that isn't broken? To me, there were a couple reasons. 1) I haven't used a toothpaste I actually like. I don't like the flavors or the aftertastes. 2) I hate buying things. 3) It's a waste of plastic. 4) There are toxic ingredients in it.

I honestly can't say it's one thing or the other when it comes to why I decided to make my own toothpaste, rather a combination of the reasons I listed. Regardless of why I did it, I knew it was something right for Vince and I so we did it. Many people will think we are crazy because of it, but we'll just smile our pearly whites at you and say, 'Ok!' We've been using it for a couple months now and really like it. Our teeth haven't starting rotting away, and one of my teeth that used to hurt (but doesn't have a cavity, according to my dentist) has stopped hurting! Read here about ways to actually counteract light decay.

Vince and I don't agree on flavors (or so I thought, he usually sneaks mine), so I have two little jars for each of us.

Mine is orange flavored and his is plain. I also used two different ratios for each of ours to get different flavors. Vince doesn't mind if his is salty and doesn't notice the taste, but I didn't like the original recipe because it was too salty. So if you don't mind saltiness, use his, and if you want it less salty, use mine, or a variation of either. At first I was worried about messing around with the ratios, but after reading about how many people only use water and a toothbrush and still have good teeth, I wasn't too worried.

Steffani's Toothpaste
5 Tablespoons virgin coconut oil
3 Tablespoons baking soda
7 drops tea tree oil
10 drops orange
20 drops trace minerals

Vince's Toothpaste
4 Tablespoons virgin coconut oil
3 Tablespoons baking soda
7 drops tea tree oil
20 drops trace minerals

Directions: Mix in a bowl with a fork until throughly mixed and smooth. Apply to toothbrush with a little spoon. Store in a dry place.
I mixed both of ours together in a bowl, minus the orange oil. Then I spooned out half into Vince's container, added orange oil to mine, then spooned mine into the container. I really like the orange flavor (as does Vince because he usually ends up using mine) and I keep meaning to buy mint or peppermint oil for Vince. He tells me he doesn't care if he has it, though, so I don't think about it very often! 

The tea tree is added because it's an antibacterial. A lot of people don't like the flavor (Vince and I don't mind it) so if it's too overpowering you can leave it out. Coconut oil is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral enough without the added tea tree oil. I buy my virgin coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. If you don't like the taste of coconut, you can use expeller pressed.

The trace minerals are not completely neccasary, but I think it's important for healing teeth and I already had some in my medicine cabinet. I use Liqumins ConcenTrace Trace Minerals.

Lastly, I painted different colors on ours to know whose is whose.

Do you think it's crazy to use homemade toothpaste? Would you ever do it, or do you already?

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2 comments:

  1. I don't think it's weird at all! When I was a dental assistant we'd have people call or come in all the time and ask if we had any cheap toothpaste that didn't taste like mint because they hated mint. We'd always tell them that aside from the fluoride (wasn't much controversy behind it at the time so we of course supported it) toothpaste was really only there for its abrasive properties and they could just dab baking soda on their toothbrush for the same effect. I personally like mint flavor a lot more than baking soda flavor, but your ideas sound much better!!

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    1. Oh, that's good to hear from someone who's worked in a dental office!

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