I am making my own toothpaste…. and my teeth actually feel clean!

I found a wonderful recipe for making your own toothpaste!  My teeth have become way too sensitive after my last pregnancy, and even though we have always used Tom’s toothpaste (the version without the killer fluoride!) and I use a soft-bristled brush, they still tingled horribly. Tom’s brand is a great alternative to commercial toothpastes (ingredients below), but it still contains glycerin, which prevents your teeth from remineralizing because it covers the surface with a hard-to-remove substance. Since using my below toothpaste recipe, my teeth have never looked so shiny and sparkly — I am letting my teeth remineralize naturally!

Commercial Toothpaste ingredients: Sodium Fluoride 0.15% w/v fluoride ion, Baking Soda, Glycerin, Hydrated Silica, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Silica, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Saccharin, Titanium Dioxide, Water.

I also tried the “sensitive brand” which contains 5% potassium nitrate, scary, and that really shouldn’t be going into the human body.  I was willing to try anything, but it hurt my teeth even worse than regular toothpaste.  Fail.  (And I returned it!  I’ll return anything at a store if I don’t need it.) So when I found out from the Healthy Extremist that I could make my own with my beloved coconut oil, I was so excited to try it.

Ingredients:

1. 2 tbs coconut oil
2. 2 tbs baking soda
3. Peppermint essential oil — at least 10 drops

Directions:

1. Soften your coconut oil on the stove top.
2. Pour into a little glass container — a baby food jar works great!
3. Add the baking soda and peppermint oil and stir.
4. Stir every 5-10 minutes or so until the coconut oil hardens again –otherwise the baking soda will fall to the bottom: this is the tricky part.

Coconut oil is anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial.  It is also full of nutrients such as lauric acid and saturated fat! and vitamin K and E that your body needs!  And baking soda is a very low abrasive to get your teeth clean!  I checked out this chart made from a dentist at Save your Smile and baking soda is a “7” on the abrasive scale on a scale from 1 – 250. It is difficult to get the paste onto my tooth brush because the coconut oil is 90% saturated fat  — this means it is solid below about 75 degrees.  I use my finger to put it on my tooth brush and then it melts on my mouth.  I have heard of people using a hair dryer to soften it right before use.  That seems time-consuming.  However, in the summer months, the coconut oil will melt, so you’ll have more of a liquid to deal with.  This may become too obnoxious, but I’ll see. But…. my teeth feel so so so clean.  I have been doing this for a week now, and they feel smooth (not grimy!) and they look sparkly…. I’m not making this up!  I know they are clean because of how they feel and I have always been a “my teeth have to feel clean” type of person!  I have found my perfect toothpaste (minus the minor hassle of getting it on my tooth brush) and I will continue to use it. Thanks for visiting Wildflower Ramblings, if you’d like to receive post updates, please Like my Facebook Page!

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Happy brushing,