Tag: Oral Care

Three Homemade Toothpaste Recipes – Save Money With Better Oral Health

DIY toothpaste with ingredients, lemon, coconut oil, turmeric, baking soda, Xylitol and bamboo toothbrush

If you’re shopping for an all natural toothpaste, the list of ingredients to avoid includes diethanolamine, propylene glycol, fluoride, aspartame, saccharine, sodium lauryl sulfate, Triclosan, glycerin, sorbitol, and microbeads. After careful examination of the ingredients, the discerning shopper will see the similarities between food products and other body care products. There are a lot of toothpaste companies that are merely pretending to be healthy.

Finding a toothpaste that is actually good for you, in other words, one that actually helps improve oral health, can be challenging. So why not make your own?

All you need is a formula that you can brush into the teeth and gums that helps to scrub away and kill bacteria and other microbes while it polishes the teeth lightly without acidifying the mouth with toxins that damage tissue and leach calcium from the teeth. It’s actually not so hard when you forgo the chemicals! Here are four recipes for oral health that you can use to mix and match and come up with your own regimen. You’ll save some money and extend the life of your yappers.

Related: Periodontal Disease, Gum Disease – What you need to know (with Recipes)

Simple Toothpaste Recipe

You can make homemade toothpaste, that’s not really a paste, with the following:

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt, finely ground

Instructions

Just mix the ingredients. You can also add an essential oil like peppermint or cinnamon; you can easily add a drop on the brush before brushing.

Related: Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, Cavitations – What You Need to Know

Homemade Earth-paste Recipe

If you like the earthy shampoos and soaps, then this toothpaste formula is right up your alley:

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp bentonite clay
  • Distilled water
  • 5 drops tea tree oil
  • 1 drop liquid stevia
  • 10 drops peppermint essential oil
  • 2 Tsp unrefined sea salt

Instructions

  • Combine 2 tablespoons of water with the bentonite clay in a glass bowl and mix well using a non-metal spoon (the clay shouldn’t come in contact with metal)
  • Add tea tree oil, stevia, and peppermint essential oils
  • Add salt, mix well
  • Add water to taste and texture
  • Store toothpaste in a glass with a lid (the toothpaste will dry out over time if left uncovered)

Homemade Remineralizing and Whitening Toothpaste Recipe

Make your own remineralizing toothpaste with calcium, magnesium, stevia, coconut oil, and essential oils to help your teeth stay strong and your gums stay healthy.

Related: Homemade Calcium and Magnesium

Ingredients

  • 5 parts calcium/magnesium powder (the best calcium for this can be obtained with this homemade calcium recipe)
  • 2 parts baking soda
  • 1 part unrefined sea salt, finely ground
  • 3-5 parts coconut oil to get desired texture
  • Optional ingredients: Essential oils for flavor and/or kill germs (mint, cinnamon, tea tree, peppermint, orange), and stevia (takes very little)

Instructions

  • Mix calcium, salt, and baking soda in a bowl
  • Add coconut oil, one part at a time until you reach the desired consistency
  • Add any optional ingredients
  • Store in small glass container

Hydrogen peroxide is added to many homemade toothpastes, especially those formulated for whitening. But hydrogen peroxide is one of those ingredients you are not supposed to swallow and it can irritate the gums. It is not a good idea for kids or for anyone with sensitive, damaged, or diseased gums.

Shillington’s Tooth and Gum Formula

If you suffer from oral health issues such as gingivitis or cavities, add oil pulling, chewing on garlic, and also add Shillington’s Tooth and Gum recipe to your homemade toothpaste.

Dr. Shillington’s Tooth and Gum Formula Recipe (or purchase here)

(Use Organic ingredients where ever possible).

  • 10 oz Echinacea tincture
  • 1/4 cup of tea tree oil
  • 4 oz. bayberry tincture
  • 2 oz. oak gall (or 3X oak bark) tincture
  • 2 TBS. Cayenne tincture
  • 2 1/2 dropperfuls of peppermint oil
  • 2 1/2 dropperfuls of clove oil

A “part” is a measurement by volume, not weight. Blend all ingredients together and make into a tincture using a 50/50 blend of alcohol and distilled water. For more, see How to Make a Tincture.

We also highly recommend addressing gut health when ever oral health problems are present.

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A common soap and toothpaste ingredient can cause antibiotic resistance, warn researchers

(Natural News) Is a common antimicrobial ingredient contributing to antibiotic resistance in superbugs? According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Birmingham and Norwich Research Park, that may very well be the case. Through their collaborative efforts, the scientists discovered that triclosan, a chemical used in antibacterial soap, toothpaste, and other personal care products, is making bacteria more immune to antibiotics. To be more exact: bacteria that have been exposed to triclosan were found to be resistant to quinolone antibiotics, reported DailyMail.co.uk.

Quinolones are a group of common antibiotics that are typically used to treat pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTI), bronchitis, and sinusitis. These antibiotics kill the bacteria that cause these conditions by targeting an enzyme necessary for DNA replication. By preventing that particular strain of DNA from being replicated, the bacteria are unable to divide and then die.

However, the researchers found that bacteria are capable of evolving self-defense mechanisms that make them more resistant to quinolones. One such self-defense mechanism involves mutations that make it more difficult for quinolones to destroy the enzyme involved in DNA replication. These mutations, in turn, also make the bacteria more resistant to triclosan.

Lead study author Dr. Mark Webber stated that the opposite could very well happen: triclosan exposure could result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Related: Heal Cavities, Gum Disease, Naturally with Organic Oral Care – Toothpaste Recipes Included

The phenomenon is known as “cross-resistance”, wherein exposure and resistance to one substance can result in bacteria growing immune to another, similar substance. Webber and his team observed this in Escherichia coli, which are bacteria that are harmless for the most part, but can cause abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea in more extreme cases.

“The link between quinolone and triclosan resistance is important as triclosan has become ubiquitous in the environment and even human tissues in the last 20 years,” study co-author Professor Laura Piddock remarked of their findings.

Piddock then added: “Given the prevalence of triclosan and other antimicrobials in the environment, a greater understanding of the impact they can have on bacteria and how exposure to these antimicrobials may impact the selection and spread of clinically relevant antibiotic resistance is needed.”

Related: The Toxic Toothpaste Ingredients That You Need To Avoid For Good Oral Health

How to avoid triclosan

In addition to promoting antibiotic resistance, triclosan has been linked to weakened immune systems, reproductive toxicity, and uncontrolled cell growth, the study recently discovered. Moreover, soaps that used triclosan as an ingredient were found to be no more effective at killing bacteria than regular soap, resulting in triclosan being banned in the United States. Although triclosan has been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union (EU), it can still be found in some soaps, toothpastes, and other household products. Thankfully, minimizing exposure to triclosan is easy to do. Here are some ways to do that:

  • Read the label. Any product that contains triclosan will say so on the list of ingredients.
  • Steer clear of antibacterial products. Anything labeled “antibacterial” or “germ-killing” more often than not contains triclosan. Opt for organic personal care products as much as possible. Soaps that are naturally antibacterial will contain thyme essential oils, tea tree essential oils, grapefruit essential oils, or other essential plant oils.
  • Watch out for triclocarban. This is a common antibacterial compound in solid bar soaps. Like triclosan, triclocarban is a hormone disruptor, and should be avoided at all costs.

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