An In-Depth Look at Natural Toothpaste
Since regular toothpaste is so easy to find, you may wonder why anyone would be concerned enough to seek out a natural alternative. Well, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to try natural toothpaste, and most of them have more to do with what’s in your regular toothpaste than what’s in the natural variety.
Regular toothpaste is filled with ingredients that can be harmful to us, especially in large doses. These include:
Fluoride – while fluoride can fight cavities, it can also cause a lot of problems. Fluoride, you see, is toxic in high doses, and can cause mottled teeth if you’re overexposed. It has even been linked to learning disabilities in high doses. Most of us have fluoride in our water supply, which is more than enough, even for the average child. Adults certainly have no reason to have fluoride in their toothpaste. Did you know that one common way of making fluoride is by filtering airborne industrial waste given off by fertilizer producers?
SLS – Sodium Laurel Sulfate is used in regular toothpaste to make it foam. It’s a detergent; you’ll also find it in most shampoos. It is a skin irritant for many people and can cause canker sores in those already prone to them.
Saccharin -Saccharin is used to sweeten many toothpastes and mouthwashes. It has been shown to cause kidney cancer in lab rats and is rarely used as a sweetener in foods today because of this.
Natural toothpastes use ingredients like mint and other herbs, which are natural breath fresheners. These natural toothpastes are not made to function like soap for the teeth, the way regular toothpastes do. You see, most of the cleaning of your teeth comes from the physical act of brushing, anyway. You can brush with water and get most of the food and debris off your teeth. Toothpaste should kill the germs that cause gingivitis and bad breath. Mint is one of the best germ killers for the mouth and is found in all natural toothpastes.