Household Blog

One by one, we’re trying to look at the things we purchase and figure out whether we can make it cheaper and greener and better for ourselves. Since we were running low on toothpaste, it fell under my scrutiny. I found tons of recipes online and in a few herbalism books about homemade toothpastes and tooth powders, most of them  made largely from baking soda and sea salt. However, I found a lot of information also stating that this type of toothpaste, while it was great for occasional use and for whitening, if used daily would wear away at the enamel of one’s teeth.

So of course I called my dentist and ran it by him, and he confirmed that it would be too harsh for daily use, but once a week would be fine… and so the search continued.

Then I came across this article, and had my “AHA” moment. I followed up on some of the links and references and found it pretty helpful. So here’s the recipe for our new toothwash—a much gentler version of the pastes and powders, but retaining the cleansing and antimicrobial properties, etc.

Tooth Wash

• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 or 3 drops of tea tree oil

Put all ingredients in a bottle, shake well to combine thoroughly. Add a couple drops of spearmint or peppermint oil if you like for flavor—I actually like it straight up just fine, but that’s me. Before brushing, pour a bit of the toothwash on the bristles of your toothbrush and gently brush-a brush-a brush-a! After brushing, swish the solution thoroughly around your mouth before spitting. Admire you gleaming chompers.

Tags: baking soda, sea salt, tea tree oil, teeth

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 12th, 2011 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Gluten-Free Recipes, Household How-to. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.