If you’re looking for organic toothpaste, or at least one with as many natural ingredients as possible, the four options reviewed here may give you some ideas. I guess to like or not to like a toothpaste is about as personal a choice as… well, the use of a toothbrush, perhaps!
Some of these natural toothpaste solutions I loved, and they have since become a staple in the bathroom.
Some others I was really, really trying to see the positive, but there was just no way for me to keep using them. Every toothpaste reviewed here has fairly natural (and sometimes organic) ingredients, so my disappointment doesn’t mean any of them are bad products. They just didn’t deliver the basics of what I expect and need from a toothpaste in the first place: a fresh, clean feeling in the mouth, whereas other natural toothpaste creations appeared to be simply amazing. Fierce competition!
What’s the issue with regular toothpaste again?
I’ve been brushing “au naturel” (that’s French for natural) for so long, that I had to look up a few ingredients commonly used in mainstream toothpaste to refresh my memory on their pro’s and con’s.
Wasn’t there something fishy about the fluoride in regular toothpaste, and perhaps also the SLS… ?
Perhaps even a few more less desirable ingredients?
One of the things that stuck with me about the fluoride, is that it was initially added to the water in US prisons after it became clear that it kept the prisoners docile. There’s also a lot of talk about fluoride calcifying the pineal gland.
Why is fluoride bad for you?
There are so many mixed signals on the subject, that it basically comes down to what you want to believe. Which camp you choose to adhere, is probably a matter of your own personal – uhm – “world view”. Which information about fluoride can be welcomed as trustworthy, and which can’t? The ways in which you believe the government, the medical system and the personal care industry (large corporations – big money) operate, will probably influence the direction of your thoughts on this.
As for me, I believe scientific research is amazing… however – scientific research being portrayed as independent, when in reality it is funded by companies that have much to gain from a specific outcome of these seamingly objective studies, things get blurry.
Fluoride being good for the teeth is considered a myth by many sources. A tenacious one, too, but it seems very plausible to me that it is indeed complete nonsense. If you want to fight tooth decay and cavities, there are certain things to consider, such as to limit your sugar intake and acidic tasting sweets & soft drinks. Fluoride has been linked to osteoporosis, to cancer, and to a build-up of aluminium in the brain, which may in turn be related to Alzheimers. Perhaps you’d find it interesting to know that the United States is the only country to add fluoride to drinking water. Good for the teeth or not, don’t you think ingesting fluoride should be a matter of choice in the first place – not something that is decided for you?
What other harmful ingredients are in your toothpaste?
Without going into them in depth, there are a few more ingredients in regular toothpaste that seem better to avoid. They’re kind of similar to the nastiness in common bath and shower products or shampoo, except that toothpaste is not just used on the outside of the body. Artificial foaming agents, scents/flavors, synthetic dyes derived from coal tar and other toxic nonsense can all be found in regular tooth cleaning products.
But wait – it all feels so fresh, so delightfully tingling around our teeth… right!?
Why yes indeed, and as much as I ‘ve been trying to ditch the nasty ingredients, I still very much can’t live without that feeling either. So, in case you’re wondering if using a natural organic toothpaste involves brushing with some kind of mud-colored grass-like tasting drab, stop right there. That’s not the kind of stuff that makes me all to happy either. I’ve had some good fun trying out different kinds of natural toothpaste and even organic toothpaste. Whereas some were kind of gross and seriously lacking in a few area’s, it is possible to brush your teeth all clean & shiny, with natural ingredients and the help of plants and minerals.
Check out these four options, complete with full ingredient lists and a brief review.
1. Christopher’s Original Formulas, Herbal Tooth and Gum Powder
Ingredients: Proprietary Blend of: Organic Shavegrass Herb, Organic Peppermint Leaf, Wildcrafted White Oak Bark, Organic Cloves, Wildcrafted Prickly Ash Bark, Wildcrafted Bayberry Bark, Wildcrafted Slippery Elm Bark, & Organic Stevia Herb.
REVIEW – So sorry to not be in awe of this ‘natural toothpaste’ (between quotation marks, not because it’s not natural, but because it’s not an actual paste).
I wish I loved it, I really tried to love it. Unfortunately I’ve found it absolutely horrendous to use and it fell short in many ways. No fresh feeling in the mouth, not a pleasure to use at all and worse – the gritty powder is very hard to rinse completely, so after giving the brushing part my best, I ended up spending three times as much time getting rid of the dark speckles everywhere on and around my teeth. Not very practical.
I’m not even sure this stuff actually cleans the teeth in the way a toothpaste is supposed to. Not just because it’s hard getting rid of the residue, but also because I wonder how much of a difference these plant-powder-particles actually make.
2. TheraNeem Toothpaste by Organix South
Neem Therape with Mint
Ingredients: Calcium carbonate, sorbitol, aqua/water/eau, glycerin, silica, sodium lauroyl glutamate, xylitol, xanthan gum, cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar) gum, supercritical extracts of vitis vinifera (grape) seed*, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root*, foeniculum vulgare (fennel)*, eugenia caryophyllus (clove) bud*, azadirachta indica (neem) leaf* and azadirachta indica (neem) bark, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, potassium sorbate, mentha viridis (spearmint) oil, ascorbic acid. * Made with Certified Organic Supercritical Extracts
Neem Therape with Cinnamon
Ingredients: Calcium carbonate, aqua/water/eau, sorbitol, glycerine, sodium lauroyl glutamate (derived from naturally occurring amino acid), xylitol, xanthan gum, cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar gum), potassium sorbate, silica, supercritical extracts of vitis vinifera (grapeseed*), eugenia caryophyllus (clove bud*), azadirachta indica (neem leaf* and bark), elettaria cardamomum (cardamom seed oil*), illicium verum (star anise fruit*), cinnamomum zeylanicum (cinnamon bark*), glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice root*), ascorbic acid (vitamin C). *Made with Certified Organic Supercritical Extract
REVIEW – This was my favorite toothpaste for a long time – until it got some good competition from number 4 on this list. I still find it absolutely amazing though. The paste looks ridiculously natural – yes indeed, it’s a brown-ish green and you’ll think you’ve gone completely hippie… until you feel what it does to your mouth. Because this organic toothpaste doesn’t just have natural ingredients! It also feels soft and fresh, foams nicely, rinses well and leaves you with a very pleasant minty or cinnamon-y aftertaste.
I hope when you try it, you’ll find out why I fell in love. The only dilemma is which flavor to choose… which is why I usually have both open and alternate, depending on the mood of the moment. 😉
3. Earthpaste, Amazingly Natural Toothpaste by Redmond
Ingredients: Purified water, food grade redmond clay, xylitol, cinnamon essential oil, menthol, redmond real salt, tea tree oil.
REVIEW – This natural blend of mineral and plant-based ingredients forms a paste which doesn’t foam one bit. It seems to dissolve during brushing, so I ended up feeling as if I wasn’t even using any toothpaste at all. Put more on the toothbrush half way through, but the same thing happened. I like the feeling of having something, some kind of substance, in my mouth when brushing my teeth, so that was a definite downside of Redmond’s natural toothpaste.
Kudos for what they’re trying to go for here, but it doesn’t live up to my expectations. Organix South (number 2) and Himalaya Herbal (number 4) just did too good of a job, leaving me too spoiled to deal with mediocrity.
I don’t understand why this one gets so many positive reviews online. Maybe I’m just not using it the right way?
4. Botanique by Himalaya Herbal Healthcare: Toothpaste with Neem and Pomegranate
Ingredients: Vegetable glycerin (from vegetable oils), xylitol (Himalayan birch wood), water (aqua), hydrated silica, calcium carbonate, lauryl glucoside (from coconut oil), sodium cocoyl glutamate (&) disodium cocoyl glutamate (from amino acids and vegetable oil), stevia rebaudiana (stevia) extract, flavor (from essential oils and botanicals), potassium sorbate, menthol (from peppermint leaves)*, chondrus crispus (carrageenan), xanthan gum, sodium chloride (sea salt), thymol (from thyme leaf oil), azadirachta indica (neem) leaf extract*, punica granatum (pomegranate) fruit extract*, terminalia chebula (chebulic myrobalan) fruit extract*, terminalia bellerica (belleric myrobalan) fruit extract*, phyllanthus emblica (amla) fruit extract*, embelia ribes (vidanga) fruit extract*, acacia nilotica (Indian gum arabic tree) bark extract*. *Organic
REVIEW – This last natural toothpaste with organic plant extracts was a very pleasant surprise, almost topping Organix South’s Neem Therape. It has a pearl white smooth appearance, which is almost too good to be true for a natural toothpaste. This one will probably remind you of a regular toothpaste more than the others. Makes a nice amount of foam and has a lovely fresh taste. In another review online, someone complained about the neem taste, but I couldn’t detect any of that – it’s mainly minty and fresh. My teeth felt clean and I’m definitely buying this one again.
Now there will probably be three open tubes on the sink, next to the mint and cinnamon Theraneem one by Organix South, I think I’ll need daily access this one too… Oh well, what better way to make the teeth-cleaning ritual a fun one!
Sources:
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/health-hazards-to-know-about/where-the-yellow-went
http://www.askdoctork.com/is-fluoride-bad-for-you-201211283791
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/13/cdc-and-ada-now-advise-to-avoid-using-fluoride.aspx
http://www.nyrnaturalnews.com/article/qa-whats-so-bad-about-fluoride/