Toothpaste--make your own!

[maiden]

I've been making my own thoothpaste for many years now. It works so much better than commercial toothpaste, it uses basic ingredients, it gives you another do-it-yourself skill, it decreases your support of big business.

I've been to many dental hygenists since I've been using my own toothpaste. They all agree that what I use does a superior job of maintaining oral health. My teeth are bright, and there is no build-up, even after 6 months, when I see the hygenist again.

You can use simply baking soda to brush your teeth, but I wanted something more pleasant. These are the ingredients I use: vegetable glycerine, baking soda, peppermint oil or spearmint oil, and tea tree oil. Sometimes I use other ingredients, such as orange oil or lemon oil, no tea tree oil, salt or xylosweet. Sometimes a touch of hydrogen peroxide. The thing is, once you know what ingredients are good to use, and are not harmful to go into your mouth, you can become a "mad chemist" and invent your own version.

I use a little plastic container, about 1/2 cup or smaller, like Rubbermaid or Tupperware. Put in about 1/4-inch of glycerine, about 1-inch baking soda, a couple of drops of flavoring oil, a drop of tea tree oil, if you'd like. Mix it together, using a fork. Add more glycerine and more baking soda until you get a good consistency--not too thin, and not too stiff. Put the cover on; you're done. To use it, wet your toothbrush slightly, dip it into the mixture and brush your teeth! It's different, not only in taste, but also in its lack of suds. You'll get used to it. And you'll have clean, bright teeth.

Beware: Glycerine comes from either animals or plants. I use Now Brand vegetable glycerine. I buy it at the health food store. If you see a brand of glycerine, probably at a pharmacy, and it doesn't say "vegetable", then guess what. It's probably from an animal source.

One more thing--you might think the initial investment of vegetable glycerine and essential oils is expensive, but a little goes a LONG way, AND, you get a better-than-commercial product.

Have fun, and introduce your family and friends to homemade toothpaste!

[Patrick]

Thanks for this maiden, that's really cool. I would love to be able to make my own. One question, what is the purpose of the Glycerin? I assume it adds to the cleaning ablility when mixed with baking soda, but what exactly does it do, if you know?

[maiden]

Glycerine is a naturally sweet, viscous liquid that gives the toothpaste a sweet taste, and a pastey composition. As I said, you could use plain baking soda, or baking soda with the flavor oil, but it's really nice with the glycerine, too. It may cost more than you'd expect, but it's worth it, if you can afford it. As for anything else glycerine does, I don't know. Maybe I should look into that...

[maiden]

Ancient toothpaste recipe. I'll make some after I get some dried iris flowers:

A tale of ancient toothpasteCreation Archive > Volume 26 Issue 3 > A tale of ancient toothpaste


First published:
Creation 26(3):32–33
June 2004
Browse this issue

by David Catchpoole

An Egyptian toothpaste formula from the 4th century AD has been found in a collection of papyrus documents at the National Library in Vienna, Austria.1,2 In black ink (now faded after 1,500 years) made of soot and gum arabic mixed with water, an ancient Egyptian scribe has carefully written down a recipe ‘for white and perfect teeth’.3 This makes it the world’s oldest-known recipe for toothpaste.


The iris flower is a main ingredient in the ancient dental formula discovered recently by researchers.
The formula, presented at a recent international dental congress, included mint, salt, grains of pepper and—perhaps the most active component—dried iris flower. News of the ancient formula is said to have ‘caused a sensation’ among the dentists at the congress.2 Dental researchers have only recently discovered the beneficial properties of iris—found to be an effective agent against gum disease—which has now been brought into commercial use.

This ancient Egyptian toothpaste is described as having been ‘ahead of its time’.1 Until 1873, when Colgate released the first commercially prepared toothpaste, most people relied upon a mixture of soap and salty water—a far less effective concoction.

One dentist who attended the international congress and actually tried the pungent toothpaste himself, said, ‘I found that it was not unpleasant’, and, ‘afterwards my mouth felt fresh and clean.’1

The 4th-century toothpaste recipe was among a mass of papyrus documents purchased in 1878 after being found on a rubbish dump outside the ancient Egyptian city of Crocodilopolis. Dr Hermann Harrauer, who heads the papyrus collection at Austria’s National Library4 and who discovered the long-lost recipe, explained further, ‘As papyrus was hard to come by, it was often reused, and this document had on the back details of correspondence between monasteries, implying that perhaps the person who wrote it was connected with them in some way.’2

Dr Harrauer continued, ‘Maybe he was a monk. By the fourth century AD, Egypt had been Christianised and Christian monks were also physicians, and this would fit in with what we know.’ The time of writing coincided with the period of the great Christian theologian (and creationist) ‘Basil the Great’,5 Archbishop of Caesarea, renowned for having emphasized that up-to-date medical and health care be practised by monastic communities. Dr Harrauer said that the toothpaste formula was ‘written by someone who obviously had some medical knowledge, as he used abbreviations for medical terms’.2

For those who are used to thinking in evolutionary terms, i.e. who regard early man as ‘primitive’, such discoveries of the advanced level of technology in earlier cultures can often be a real eye-opener. As one dentist who attended the meeting where the recipe was unveiled commented, ‘Nobody in the dental profession had any idea that such an advanced toothpaste formula of this antiquity existed.’1

In contrast, reports that ancient Egyptians and other peoples were just as inventive as people today ought not to surprise Christians—the Bible says humans were created ‘fully human’ on Day 6 of Creation Week, only around 6,000 years ago.6 No wonder that the ingenuity of ancient man continues to delight creationists and surprise evolutionists!

[Matthew Ochalek]

A friend of mine just uses straight baking soda now. His teeth are the best they've ever been.

Coincidently, I was just reading Endgame the other night where Jensen explains that flouride is just plain poisonous. So, I'm grateful for these suggested alternatives.

[maiden]

Another note on glycerine--even though it is sweet tasting, it does not feed the bacteria that cause plaque and cavities.

[caleb]

i was using straight baking soda for awhile, but my dentist told me that pure baking soda can scratch the enamel of your teeth with continued use. Since then, I switched to Tom's of Maine, which produces a non-flouride version that tastes absolutely awful, but it works.

I always liked the flavor of straight baking soda. Even though it has a salty flavor, in a way it sort of tastes sweet, and nothing leaves your mouth feeling fresher. I will try this glycerin recipe. Thanks Maiden!

[maiden]

I've never heard or read that baking soda can scratch tooth enamel. I'm not saying your dentist is wrong, just that I've never heard that claim before. Glycerine certainly will make the baking soda glide across your teeth better than plain baking soda, so maybe that will allay your dentist's fears for your teeth. (I'll see what I can find out about the possibility of baking soad harming tooth enamel.)

Here's something you may not know about Tom's of Maine: they are part of Colgate.
Here's their explaination:

http://www.tomsofmaine.com/about/Colgate.asp

[caleb]

My first batch of toothpaste came out great! The consistency is perfect, and it tastes amazing. I used vegetable glycerin, baking soda, a dash of hydrogen peroxide, and some peppermint oil.

[maiden]

Wow! Isn't it amazing? Teeth are so clean and breath is so fresh after using this! If you go back to "store bought", you'll find that you teeth start getting a buildup on them that commercial toothpaste doesn't get off. (Makes me wonder whether there's a toothpaste conspiracy!!)

Thanks for letting me inspire you; now share homemade toothpaste idea with others!

[Matthew Ochalek]

I made my first batch last night... Not as good as I hoped, but it's tolerable. I think I used too much peppermint oil.

Does the "freshness" of the baking soda have any effect on the finished product? It wasn't a new box by any stretch of the imagination.

[joy]

maiden, thanks very much for this! I made a big batch last night: baking soda, glycerine, peppermint and sweet orange oils, stevia for sweetness, and a bit of coconut oil. I was able to fill 9 little screw-cap containers, which should last at least 6 months.

The taste of baking soda is kind of an adjustment. But my teeth feel like I've just had a professional cleaning, so I don't mind it at all.

[reachingcriticalmass]

Wow, I was a bit surprised when caleb said he liked the taste of baking soda!

Maybe it is just the brand that i have used but, for me, it was pretty nasty.

Thanks a lot for this recipe. I have searched the internet and not found anything as close to or nice sounding as this recipe (I am yet to try it for myself!)

[Keith]

I don't think I got the recipe quite right on first attempt - too much tea tree oil - but it really does feel like a better job than normally. I'm not just making this up. It's better than the stuff in the tube.

[Matthew Ochalek]

I got a lecture from the dentist yesterday for homemade tooth paste w/o fluoride. She tried pushing a prescription-only super-fluoridated paste on me despite saying more than once that my teeth are perfectly healthy. Guess who's looking for a new dentist...

[Andy Alexis-Baker]

I have not made the toothpaste yet, but plan to (with a slightly more detailed recipe hopefully). As far as fluoride, if you need it why not just use some fluoride mouthwash?

[maiden]

Hey, everybody! Here's a recipe with actual measurements, for those who would like to try making your own toothpaste, but would feel better working with a more-specific recipe:

In a small--one cup or so--plastic container with a lid, (like a tupperware container or any of the less expensive brands), put
1/4 cup vegetable glycerine and 1/2 cup baking soda. Mix together with a fork, until all the baking powder is moist. Add 3 drops of spearmint essential oil and 3 drops peppermint essential oil, and 1 drop tea tree oil. Mix well again. You now have a batch of homemade toothpaste.
So simple, and so good!

I like the spearmint-peppermint blend, with added tea tree oil. You might like a different flavor better, or this one but stronger or less strong. Just experiment until you find what you like best. I hope you enjoy the results!