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I want to reduce my own consumption of industrial toothpaste, in particular to avoid the large amount of plastic packaging it uses.

I have already been using tea tree oil as a supplement to my conventional toothpaste. Do you consider it health and safe to only rely on tea tree oil to brush my teeth?

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  • Most StackExchange sites don't allow medical questions. We haven't discussed here whether or not we allow them on this site, so I've placed this question on hold for now, until we sort this out in this discussion here on Meta Sustainability.
    – THelper
    Apr 29, 2015 at 21:22
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    Bear in mind that the fundamental goal of industry is efficiency, which is a good thing. The key to making it sustainable is in paying attention to waste streams, energy use etc, which admittedly is commonly overlooked.
    – Highly Irregular
    Apr 30, 2015 at 10:19

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NO! Tea tree oil is toxic when swallowed, so I'd strongly advise against any intake of tea tree oil, and even more so if you are using it regularly. Even if you spit it out, some may be left behind and adverse effects may build up over time.

Also, be very careful when taking medical advice from people on the Internet. Imagine if instead of the above I told you that you can safely drink a liter!? (which you can't!! You'd die if you did drink that much).

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  • Thank you very much! I wasn't aware of this at all! I got introduced to the practice of using tea tree oil by my family. Interestingly never questioned this custom as being something so dangerous.
    – orschiro
    Apr 30, 2015 at 20:03

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