For most people the idea to make your own toothpaste is totally alien but believe me it is dead easy. It also costs pennies, couldn’t be better value for money. The most important thing with homemade toothpaste is that you have 100% control over the ingredients so you can omit the dangerous chemicals commonly used for commercial toothpastes. A few substances that you will conveniently avoid are:
- Triclosan: affects thyroid, linked to cancer, promotes development of resistant bacterial strains (full article)
- Fluoride: responsible for teeth and skeletal fluorosis (full article)
- Diethylene glycol (DEG): poisonous odorless substance causing gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, kidney failure and even death.
- Preservatives
- Artificial colors
- Sweeteners: Saccharine has been repeatedly proved to cause bladder cancer in animals
Believe it or not the basic toothpaste recipe includes 4 ingredients only: Baking soda, salt, a few drops of essential oil and glycerin. You mix 3 parts of soda with 1 part of salt and add glycerin to the point that you have a toothpastey texture and some drops of your favorite oil in the end. You need to save the toothpaste in a small jar so that it doesn’t dry up. Your homemade toothpaste will not be as smooth or creamy as the commercial ones and will not create foam in your mouth but it is a thousand times healthier, will absolutely clean your teeth without loading you with unnecessary chemicals and will save you money.
Your toothpaste should have this texture when you are done
Many people find baking soda not to be very healthy or gentle with their teeth and gums so they use clay instead of soda. Natural clay is indeed an excellent option for the base of your toothpaste. It is full of minerals and healing substances. There are variations and many wonderful materials you can include to your toothpaste if you decide to experiment a bit. I have summarized everything below.
| Dry ingredients | Liquid ingredients |
| Baking soda | Glycerin |
| Clay (white, green, pink/red, yellow) | **Hydrogen Peroxide** |
| **Xylitol ** | Pure aloe vera |
| **Unrefined sea salt or Himalayan pink salt** | Vodka |
| Essential oils |
Usually, you need to come up with a creamy texture similar to a toothpaste. However this may not be completely necessary because you can always have a dry stock in which you simply dip your wet toothbrush; this is called dental powder. Dry tooth powders are not in vogue anymore but you cant deny how practical and easy are to make; they were widely used a few decades ago before the advent of modern toothpastes.
About Xylitol , Hydrogen Peroxide and Sea Salt
Xylitol is an amazing natural sugarless sweetener. It has strong antibacterial properties and promotes oral health like no other. I highly recommend it!
Hydrogen peroxide is also a natural antibacterial which can have a powerful effect in your mouth hygiene. Use it in combination with glycerin to achieve the desired texture in your toothpaste. Make sure you have food grade hydrogen peroxide at a concentration no more than 6%.
In my opinion there is no point in making your own toothpaste if you are not to use the purest and best materials. This is the reason I recommend for you natural unprocessed sea salt or Himalayan salt. These are the best salt you can get hold of and this is not just for your toothpaste but for all your culinary needs. If you want the full story on table salt and the natural alternatives check my recent extensive review.
