Oral Care

Your mouth is the most important part of your body to maintain in a healthy and happy state, as it will dictate the health of the rest of your body

We all know about toothbrushing, flossing, and mouthashing, but few of us have heard of the importance of tongue scraping and the benefits of oil pulling. I'll save the details for the links in the previous sentence, and use this space to instead divulge my favorite recipes and products.

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1. TOOTHBRUSH

One of our most controversial self-care products, this is a tricky one to get right. The plastic (permanent) waste that toothbrushes create is a major problem for the environment. From everything I've seen you're stuck with either the 100% biodegradable option or the 100% plant-based option. Only pig-hair bristles are truly biodegradable, but they come from China's meat industry. If supporting this is something you'd rather avoid, Brush with Bamboo seems to be the most ecologically-sound option available. Everything about this brush and packaging is plant-based. The bristles are not compostable, but they are working to improve this with their suppliers.  Or, you could try a traditional neem chew stick. Some really swear by it.

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2. TOOTHPASTE

BEST HOMEMADE
Forget that Dirt stuff that's been circling the Facebook ads. I've tried it and immediately regretted the decision. Not only does it make you look like a neanderthal while you're using it, grinning with brown teeth back at yourself, but it's messy and very difficult to use. It's gritty and it scratched my teeth. Your toothbrush bristles are enough of an exfoliant, you don't need to make your toothpaste into sandpaper to get the job done. If you want something that feels and tastes like heaven and leaves your mouth feeling amazing, use this instead:

Remineralizing Toothpaste Ingredients

• 5 parts Calcium powder
• 2 parts Baking Soda
• 3 parts Xylitol Powder– This ingredient is not completely necessary, but just keeps it from tasting bitter.
• coconut oil to desired texture
• Optional ingredients: Essential oils for flavor (mint, cinnamon, and orange are all good), Myrrh and Trace Minerals

Remineralizing Toothpaste Instructions

1. Mix all powdered ingredients (calcium, Baking Soda, Xylitol) well in a bowl.
2. Add Coconut Oil one part at a time until you get desired consistency.
3. Add any optional ingredients, including Essential Oils for flavor (my favorite is Peppermint Orange)
4. Store in small container like ½ pint glass jar. To use, either dip clean toothbrush into it, or use Popsicle stick or spoon to put on toothbrush. 

Source:  https://wellnessmama.com/2500/remineralizing-toothpaste/

​The only con to this recipe is that it leaves your hands and toothbrush a bit oily, and it will be rock solid in cold temperatures. Still worth it to me, considering the incredible result and that you can just wash your hands with soap, especially when I imagine all of the packaging waste I'm saving!

BEST STORE BOUGHT
I have tried all the toothpastes, and none do the trick as well as Jason. My favorite is the Vanilla Powermint. The cheapest you'll ever see it is on Luckyvitamin.com. I still prefer the homemade one to this one! 

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3. MOUTHWASH

 I used to try to get by with just essential oils and water, but I didn't trust that they were getting the job done. While you can get the original natural Listerine (which is just water, alcohol, and essential oils), I prefer Doctor Tichenor's concentrate instead to use less plastic. You can conveniently get it at the drug store. It says to dilute it with just water, but you know I'm going to add some drops of essential oils - clove, melaleuca (tea trea), and OnGuard. Clove oil is particularly good for gum and oral health!

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4. PULLING OIL

You can use plain (virgin coldpressed) coconut oil or sesame oil. I always prefer to add a drop of essential oil to mine, usually peppermint or clove, for added antibacterial support.

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5. TONGUE SCRAPER

Your tongue is like the porous carpet that frequently gets neglected in cleaning, and it's the perfect environment for bacteria to breed. Brushing it with the toothbrush will just move stuff around, but you really need to use a scraper to get the gunk off. As Ariana Huffington noted above, once you see all the stuff you're scraping off, it will disgust you and you'll be hooked. Just about any U-shaped scraper will do the trick, but I hear that copper is considered ideal for a healthy bacterial environment.

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6. DENTAL FLOSS

This is another little plastic disposable culprit, and one I haven't yet explored substituting to great extent. It seems that it would be more sustainable (and more effective) all in all to just use the Waterpik instead of floss altogether. But if you're looking to stick to floss, there's a silk and wax floss in a metal tin (currently sold out at lifewithoutplastic.com). Leave a comment below if you know of any other great substitutes for floss that I overlooked!

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