Fixing My Teeth

If you float around any of the naturally minded pages on facebook, then you’ve seen that some popular name brand toothpastes have been called out for some harmful ingredients. I stopped using toothpaste a while ago for two reasons. First of all, I want to avoid fluoride wherever I can. Our water is fluoridated, and we don’t have a fluoride removing filter yet. I am trying to remineralize my teeth to heal some cavities and have stronger teeth, and fluoride hurts that process. Secondly, if I wouldn’t eat it, I don’t want it in my mouth; and toothpaste has, well, nothing I would eat. The tissue in our mouths absorbs everything that enters it, so why would I put toothpaste in my mouth, even for two minutes? It really doesn’t make sense to me.

Enter tooth powder. I tried a few different homemade toothpaste recipes and I didn’t like any of them. I tried coconut oil based and clay based. The coconut oil base was just bitter and gross. The clay base worked, but was too gunky.  But a tooth powder recipe I found HERE is working beautifully.

I didn’t change anything. (Well, I forgot the xylitol the first time. Don't forget the xylitol). I use Katie’s recipe exactly as she published it. Lovebug also has her own jar. Here’s what I’ve noticed. In my own mouth, my teeth are whiter, the fuzzies don’t come back later in the day, or even the next morning, all tooth sensitivity (which left when I first started using homemade clay based toothpaste but then returned) is gone. I need to go see a dentist to count my cavities, report back here, and then go get a second count after 6 months on the tooth powder. It would be so gratifying to find that all of it - dietary changes, fermented clod lover oil and butter oil, raw milk, tooth powder - are healing my teeth.

Also noteworthy is that I changed my toothbrush. I wasn’t planning this. I loved my Oral-B Vitality spin brush. I’ve had it since college (a long, long time ago, and yes I’ve religiously changed the brush heads, just in case you’re wondering!). It’s all Freddie Bear’s fault. I practice natural infant hygiene, or elimination communication, and as such, I potty the little guy. He doesn’t like the big toilet anymore, so he has a little potty (that’s the official name, from Bjorn). If he liked the big potty like he used to, my tooth brush would’ve fallen on the floor, and I’d he happy to disinfect it. But it fell in his potty. And sure, I clean it. But it’s still a toilet, and I have my limits. So I went to the local drugstore and bought the cheapest manual toothbrush I could find. And ya know what? I’m still getting the same results! No expensive tooth brush required.

As soon as I can get an appointment, I’ll update with a cavity count; and then again in 6 months, to see how this is really going.

What are YOUR thoughts on this news of toxic ingredients in toothpaste? Are you looking for alternatives? What are you trying out? I’d love to hear about it in a comment below!