What Do You Brush Your Teeth With?

Would you brush your teeth with toxins, harmful chemicals, poison and/or petroleum products?  I am sure you said no, but in actuality you are and probably did not even know it!!  Take a moment and go look at your tube of toothpaste or the box – seriously, go get it.

Does it have a warning on it – if ingested call poison control?  Does it tell you to keep it out of the reach of children under 6?  Weird, huh?!  Here is a product that you put in your mouth, children use and most likely swallow some and there is a warning label.

Look at the ingredients.  I thought I was ok because I use a “natural” toothpaste, but I was wrong.

– Sodium Fluoride: this is one of he main ingredients in rat poison and your toothpaste, yup you read that correctly!  This product has never been approved by the FDA and has not proven to show it reduces cavities.  Do you know where it comes from? It is an industrial by product of the aluminum and fertilizer industry.  For more go here: http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=1112
– FD&C blue dye # 1 & 2: These dyes are synthesized from petroleum.  Originally they were made from coal tar oil, but not anymore.  Since they are no longer made from coal tar oil the possibility of being contaminated with carcinogenic residuals has been reduced but not eliminated.
– Triclosan:  This is a  pesticide that is used in toothpaste for its antibacterial properties.  It is in a class of chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer in humans,  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered it as a dangerous pesticide and the EPA gives triclosan high scores both as a human health risk and as an environmental risk.

Our toothpaste does not have the above ingredients, but does have the warning label and this ingredient –
– Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS):  This is one of the most dangerous ingredients in personal care products.  It is put in toothpaste, shampoo, etc because of its foaming properties – which makes us all think that it is working!  The journal of the American College of Toxicology reports that SLS can penetrate and be retained in the eye, brain, heart, and liver with potentially harmful long-term effects. Also found in most shampoos including “no tears” baby shampoos, SLS can keep children’s eyes from developing properly, can cause cataracts in adults, can retard healing, and can impair hair growth. It is also a possible environmental hazard – as it goes down our drains it goes into our waterways, affecting fish, wildlife and water quality.

Always something, huh?  I decided I was going to try and make my own tooth powder first and then would move on to toothpaste.  Baking soda and salt work great – but I didn’t really like the flavor or taste.  Hydrogen peroxide is supposed to be good too, but I just could not make myself swish it around in my mouth – no particular reason, just can’t do it!

Make sure to check tomorrow’s post for the tooth powder recipe!

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4 Responses to What Do You Brush Your Teeth With?

  1. Candace says:

    Such a great educational post!! Good job on research and well presented.

  2. virginia says:

    So I use TJ antiplaque toothpaste. I read the box and it doesn’t have the ingredients you mention BUT it still said keep away from kids under 6 so something bad is in it. I’m so dissappointed! Yea I don’t like the taste of the baking soda though it does get the tea stains off my teeth.
    Like you said always something!
    Va.

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