Yes, you can use all natural ingredients to get that clean, fresh feeling and protect your teeth.
Tip: Brush your teeth at night with a natural toothpaste.
Problem: We brush our teeth to feel fresh and clean, and to support oral health, but did you know that traditional toothpaste contains toxins? In addition to additives and preservatives -- including color dyes and sugar -- toothpaste contains toxins and other ingredients that can compromise health.
Triclosan is one of these. It has been banned in the European Union because research shows it creates hormone imbalance and can affect fetal development. Yikes! Colgate-Palmolive took this research seriously enough to remove triclosan from its home cleaning products in 2011, yet it's still in their toothpaste (and it enters our system even if it is not swallowed).
Another harmful ingredient is sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a detergent that boosts foaming action during brushing. While SLS is derived from coconut, it becomes contaminated with a carcinogen during processing. It's also an irritant that can impede canker sores from healing. Yikes!
For more info, check out 5 Benefits of Using Natural Toothpaste on the Good Matter Blog by Tom's of Maine.
Solution: Out with the faux, in with ooh!
You don't have to sacrifice that cool, fresh feeling and the oral health benefits by switching to toothpaste with more natural ingredients and fewer fake ones. Tom's of Maine and The Natural Dentist skip the offending ingredients, or you can go a step further to go completely au natural with Earthpaste or by making your own (good recipes by DIY Natural and Mother Nature Network)
Next Step: Use a natural toothpaste once a day to start.
I've been using Tom's Whole Care once a day (nighttime) while I ween myself off Colgate. So far, so good, but I'd like to switch to an all-natural paste. Then I'll feel confident that the clean feeling I have is doing all good and no harm.
Buy through these Amazon links and help the homeless: Tom's of Maine | The Natural Dentist | Earthpaste
If you purchase through our links to Amazon, The Amazon Smile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the sale price to The Doe Fund, which helps "provide the homeless with a hand up, not a handout."
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