This post was most recently updated on January 21st, 2020
I have something to confess: I have gone fully hippy and use a homemade toothpaste recipe. I first started making my own toothpaste off and on years ago with the aim of using more natural unprocessed products, and now we only use it.
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It turns out your diet can drastically affect your oral health, if your diet is deficient in minerals and high in sugar/additives/other crap you will get cavities. As Dr. Weston A. Price (a dentist) found and detailed in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
, there were cultures throughout the world who had perfect teeth despite no access to dentists or modern toothpaste, while similar cultures with western diets had very high rates of tooth decay. That is all well and good, you say, but…
Why Use Natural Homemade Toothpaste Recipe?
Because bought toothpaste contains:
Sweeteners:
Sorbitol, Xylitol, sodium saccharin and other artificial sweeteners are often used in toothpaste to ‘improve’ taste, even though there is no evidence that these sweeteners are beneficial. In fact, in one study I read Xylitol kills rats. Yummo.
Fluoride:
The most controversial toothpaste ingredient. I can’t take supplemental iodine – I react to it and get a numb tongue and tingly hands – scary and not ideal. Iodine is known to neutralize the affects of fluoride so it is easier for fluoride to build up in my body. Additionally, fluoride interferes with thyroid hormone uptake, and when your thyroid function is borderline-dodgy like mine, that is not good.
Triclosan:
A chemical used in antibacterial soaps, deodorants and other products. Triclosan was recently found to affect proper heart function in a study at University of California Davis and the FDA is currently re-evaluating it for safety in human use.
Making toothpaste at home
My first attempts at making homemade toothpaste were quite frankly gross, but it worked and it was much cheaper than bought stuff.
It tasted like salty mint: gag-o-riffic. But you did get very clean teeth and you eventually got used to the flavour. There is no way I could get the kids to use this stuff, however.
When we moved back to my parent’s house we switched back to commercial toothpaste because it was easier.
Now we are in our own place again, so I thought we would re-try using a homemade toothpaste recipe. This time a little different. I made two versions, one is much sweeter with less peppermint and no baking soda for the kids.
There are still a few complaints about it (it has only been 3 days) but they are using it, and it has stopped the baby eating the stuff by the toothbrush full.
The first batch of homemade toothpaste we made set like concrete in our cold southern NZ winter bathroom.
All the recipes online just use coconut oil mixed in with stuff, which of course in our climate is solid most of the time.
Very solid.
Try putting that on a bendy brush! So this recipe for homemade toothpaste I made contains some almond oil, though you could use any edible oil that is liquid at room temperature. If you would prefer a remineralizing toothpowder see our new recipe here.
Homemade Re-mineralizing Toothpaste for Colder Climates
You need:
1T Coconut oil
2T Liquid oil – Sweet Almond, Olive or Sunflower etc
2T Clay powder – Diatomaceous Earth, Bentonite, or green french clay (each is slightly different, but have similar properties for this recipe)
1T Calcium powder.
1/2-1T Baking soda (optional)
1/4-1T Stevia powder (optional)
4-7 drops of Peppermint essential oil.
Method:
Melt the oils together on the stove on low until melted.
Measure in the other ingredients.
Mix very well with a spoon to get out the lumps. If you want it super duper smooth you could try a stick blender.
Store in a small container with a lid to keep bugs and dust out.
Use an ice block stick or similar to place some on your toothbrush, or put in individual glass jars.
Do you use a homemade toothpaste? Would you? If you like tips on frugal living, self sufficiency and consuming less, sign up to our newsletter below, I would LOVE to have you!
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