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It’s a rather well-known fact that regular toothpaste from the store contains a variety of dangerous ingredients. After all, the toothpaste labels themselves say “Poison”!
One of the most toxic toothpaste ingredients is sodium fluoride.
This chemical is so toxic that ingesting more than a pea size of toothpaste requires an emergency call to Poison Control. Fluoride also lowers children’s IQ as researched by scientists at Harvard.
Ingestion of too much sodium fluoride can cause a variety of symptoms within minutes including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, tremors, muscle spasms, seizures, and in severe cases, multi-organ failure.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel at all comfortable brushing my teeth with poison. Even if you don’t swallow the toothpaste, the chemicals in it easily get into the blood via the very thin gum tissue.
If you don’t believe that chemicals can get into your blood via simple contact with gum tissue, then try putting a tiny pinch of chewing tobacco between your bottom lip and your gums. I guarantee you will be dizzy, nauseated and ready to vomit in about 30 seconds (unless you happen to be a professional baseball player who chews tobacco regularly!)
Another really bad chemical in many conventional kinds of toothpaste is triclosan. Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical that is increasingly linked to hormone disruption among other things. I blogged about the dangers of this chemical in an article a while back titled Danger Lurks in Your Antibacterial Soap.
You should NEVER put chemicals in your mouth that you don’t want in your blood. You don’t need to swallow to be damaged by them.
Even Healthfood Store Toothpastes Not a Good Idea
What is less well known is that even toothpaste from the health food store should be avoided. While the ingredients may not be as toxic, the ingredients may hinder overall tooth and gum health.
For example, nearly all non-toxic toothpaste contains glycerin.
It is a sticky, sweet-tasting, clear, thick liquid that is a by-product of the soap making process. When you brush your teeth with toothpaste containing this chemical, some will stay on your teeth due to its extreme stickiness. This impedes the remineralization of your teeth with saliva as you sleep and can lead to cavities in the long term.
In addition, be aware that some health food store toothpaste shockingly contains sodium fluoride! There is simply no substitute for reading labels either for the food you buy or the cosmetics you use!
What to Use to Brush Your Teeth?
I have not used either conventional or healthfood store toothpaste for a number of years. I first got started using a simple, homemade mixture of baking soda and sea salt (3:1) after attending a fantastic, eye-opening lecture by the late Dr. Ray Behm DDS back in 2005.
Is homemade tooth powder or DIY toothpaste not your thing? Would you rather buy one that is juiced up with some wonderful herbs that benefit tooth and gum health? If so, then I would suggest taking a look at a product called Good-Gums.
Another excellent option is the product Shine from Orawellness that contains quality, healthful ingredients.
The product Good-Gums contains baking soda and sea salt, the primary ingredients of tooth powder dentifrice as recommended by Dr. Behm. It also contains beneficial soothing and antiseptic herbs such as myrrh, tea tree, peppermint, cinnamon, and cranberry. In addition, Good-Gums contains a whole food form of vitamin C.
Vitamin C is known to be critical to gum health and the avoidance or healing of periodontal disease.
Hi Jennifer, Currently the only version of Good-Gums comes with peppermint, but not the essential oil (only dried and ground leaf). You and your health practitioner may be interested in a link to an article by the Secretary of the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists about when mint is not contraindicated with homeopathy. (http://www.dreamous.com/pdf/Mint%20Not%20Contraindicated%20with%20Homeopathy%20%20HSR%20Health%20Supplement%20Retailer%20%20March%202000.pdf) He recommends taking your remedies at least 15 minutes before or after brushing with anything containing peppermint to avoid interference.
Hi Joy,
Thank you for your response. I guess that what I am getting at is: can I use the regular bentonite to clean my teeth instead of the Pascalite? Would the bentonite work as well?
Thank you.
our family is trying Xylitol dissolved in Virgin Coconut Oil, along with a little baking soda– it tastes pretty good and the Xylitol kills caries bacteria– Rebecca
Unfortunately, Xylitol is a sugar alcohol – not just a plain sugar. It should be avoided according to Ramiel Naigel (author of Cure Tooth Decay). It has never been given “Generally Recognized As Safe” status by the FDA. Instead it was approved as a food “additive” – toothpaste, chewing gum, etc.
Page 56: “Xylitol is metabolized primarily by the liver. Xylitol’s anti-cavity properties are purported to depend on the fact that bacteria cannot digest sugar alcohols and convert them into acids. Yet, in chapter one I clearly demonstrated that bacteria and acids are not the primary culprits of tooth decay. Also, avoid other unnatural sounding sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol and erythritol.”
I've been using just plain baking soda to brush my teeth with – didn't know about the sea salt! I'll have to add that in! I also sometimes brush with just some peroxide sprayed on my toothbrush because I read that peroxide is very healthy for your teeth – anyone know anything about that?
Hi Sarah,
I found this among some of your older Blogs and found it quite fascinating. I had no idea about the glycerin. Will definitely look for this. I know this was written prior to the Nov. conference where you met with Dr. Rami (sorry, I can’t remember his correct name!) Any updates about tooth cleansing products since then?
Also, do you have the info on how he suggests healing cavities with clay?
Thanks, Joyce
Hi Joyce, no updates at this time. Rami just sent me a copy of the latest edition of his book, so I will be reading it and commenting in future blog posts.
The video (Traditional Fats) on the sidebar sure grabbed my attention today!
This past weekend I was speaking to a man who raises and market grass-fed beef about making a purchase. I told him I would want the processor to package the bones and fat also! When I explained my use of stock, broth , and tallow, he smiled a bit and told me, that they are very bad for you and really bad for the heart! Wonder if he thought the beef he was selling was also ‘bad’ for me? Woo hoo! Did we ever have a talk!!
I unfortunately just had periodontal surgery on most of my upper teeth and I’m only 29. Do you have any suggestions on how I can heal faster? I eat fairly healthy and avoid sugar.
Almost all of what you mention happens to become astonishingly specific and it would make me wonder the reason why I hadn’t seemed at this in this mild ahead of. This piece definitely did switch the gentle on for me as significantly as this specific topic make any difference goes. But there is certainly an individual position I’m not necessarily way too comfy with and whilst I try to reconcile that with the main strategy of the challenge, allow me see what many of the rest of your readers must say.Very nicely accomplished.
Do you suggest I use this on my 2 year old daughter?