Looking back through my recent blog posts, I realized I skipped Day 29. Seriously? I can count all the way to thirty one, I really can! Is it frightening that we home school and I teach math? Don't answer that. Anyway, Day 29, here we go!
I have seen a number of DIY Toothpaste recipes on the web lately. Many of them contain things like coconut oil, glycerin, stevia, baking soda, xylitol and various essential oils. They aren't tremendously complicated, but several of the ingredients are not necessarily things you would have laying around the house.
The coconut oil is antibacterial and antifungal agent, so I can understand why they use it. The xylitol is supposed to reduce plaque build up. Glycerin is a solvent and a hygroscopic agent. It absorbs water and is able to dissolve in water but not combine-able with oils, so I don't see the purpose in adding it to this home made toothpaste. Stevia is a great natural product, but why does toothpaste always have to be sweet? Have you read the back of a tube of commercial toothpaste lately? It's positively frightening what it contains!
The thing is, we have made our own toothpaste for decades, with nothing more than baking soda. During the Great Depression and later during war years, baking soda was commonly used instead of toothpaste. Baking soda is excellent for combating gum disease, has virtually no taste, freshens the mouth and takes away bad breath all in one shot. My Grandmother brushed her teeth with baking soda her entire life, and when she died at the ripe old age of 105, she still had all her teeth. Not bad, eh?
We keep a small container of baking soda in our bathroom to dip a damp toothbrush in. All of my children use this method, and none of them are bothered by the taste. I might try adding a few drops of peppermint oil, it doesn't really need it.
If you have been following my 31 Days of Cleansing since the beginning of January, you may have read my post on Lemon Water Cleansing. Drinking lemon water daily goes a long way towards ridding your system of bacteria that can cause bad breath and plaque buildup in the mouth. Several people who have started this lemon routine have remarked how much cleaner their mouth feels.
And what about that fluoride thing? You can read about the fluoride debate all over the internet, Wikipedia has a good discussion on both sides of the topic, but there are pages and pages more on the debate. I personally am against fluoride because of my own personal experience. The 1 or 2 years when I used commercial toothpaste were the ones when I had the most tooth decay. I also am against fluoride being put into our city water against our personal wishes. The fluoride debate has been going on for nearly 50 years, and will probably go on for that many more.
In our home schooling, we like to check out travel videos to learn things about different regions in our geography studies. A couple of years ago we checked out a film on Africa. One of the native tribes was known for using the fluoride that occurs naturally around their home on the men's teeth to SOFTEN them so they could be chiseled into sharp points as a rite of passage to manhood. Interesting isn't it?
You definitely can't go wrong with the cost effectiveness of making your own toothpaste. Even if you only use it once in a while, you will be saving yourself considerable money.
One More post to go!
Designer Mom
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