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Are there any sustainable (and useful) alternatives to toothpaste?
I've tried so far this kind of tooth tabs and I'm also aware of the existence of tooth powder but I haven't tried it yet. I liked about the product that I tried, that the package was easily recyclable (and not made of plastic). What are the advantages of the alternatives in terms of sustainability?
My toothpaste is made from natural materials (mainly clay, small quantities of herb extracts and essential oils) and comes in a (recyclable) aluminium tube. The cap is from recyclable plastic (but of course for plastics, "recycling" means downcycling).
I find this toothpaste marvellous and pretty sustainable (except for the plastic cap). The clay part really helps get the teeth clean. Diligent brushing even removes discolouring (coffee, tea, etc.), if only over a course of weeks/months. (By the way, this is not a crackpot health product. Clay is also found in many conventional non-natural toothpastes.)
I have used tooth powder, but not for long. (I prefer my natural tooth paste.)
So rather than looking for alternatives to toothpaste, I recommend you also look at the range of natural toothpastes.
(I use mostly Weleda toothpaste. The red and yellow types are the ones with clay; the green and blue one are tooth gels, which I didn't find as effective. Weleda should be available in many parts of the world. I have also used other natural toothpastes containing clay, whose name I don't recall, but you should take a look in your local natural health product store.)
You should look at the corporate responsibility of the companies who make toothpaste. Some will be better than others and you can be sure that many will be incentive by both government tax schemes and public opinion to reduce the negative footprint of their products. You can also be sure that the bigger companies are almost always better equipped financially and in human resources to create products with the lowest footprints - in most cases it is driven by powerful market forces.
My advice is to just pay attention to WHO you are buying from and vote with your feet.
Ayurveda, an ancient science of life, food, medicine & healing and sister science to Yoga, provides these suggestions:
Quoted from Rajiv Dixit's talks on Prakrutik Chikitsa i.e. Natural Medicine.
12 types of daatoon (plant stems/ twigs) can be used only.
There are 3 basic season and 3 sub seasons.
Rains – mango, Arjun
Dant Manjans (Powder)
Dant manjan – daaru - haldi {turmeric}, salt, sarso/ mustard oil
Dant manjan 2 – burn dried gobar {cow dung}, add haldi and sendha namak to it.
Dant manjan 3 – triphala choorna, sendha namak. This is the only one that can be used in all seasons.
Mango Leaves - Chew - make paste - Rub on teeth - Amazing whitener
From: Types of Salts:
Sendha namak (Rock salt). A large crystalline salt that's usually used for making ice cream in ice cream machines. Food grade rock salt is also available to use in regular cooking.
Kala namak (Black salt). This is a dark, reddish-black colored crystalline salt that turns a pinkish grey color when ground up. It has a distinct sulfurous odor and taste.
There are some commercial preparations that use these components and great blends of the same. Outline of Commercial Preparations suggested by Ayurvedic experts that I use:
Vicco Vajradanti Tooth Powder - Coarse Powder of dried Stems/ Herbs
Patanjali Dant Kanti Tooth Paste
Colgate tried to patent some of this but was thrown out due to prior known knowledge: Reddit: India_blocks_colgate_patents_for_spices.
The mentioned Ayurvedic solutions focus on one principle in Ayurveda: 6 tastes;
Such items are suggested above for dental usage, and also used as after-mint or after food chewing, using betel nuts or betel leaves. {In excessive abuse, it also has a negative effect}
Similar principle seems to have been present in the Pompeii / ancient Roman excavations.*
http://qz.com/516672/ancient-romans-had-no-need-for-dentists-because-of-one-food-they-didnt-eat/
revealed in a press conference that the ancient Romans had perfect teeth and “no immediate discernible need for dentists,” according news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia. Though Pompeii citizens never used toothbrushes or toothpaste, they had healthy teeth thanks to their low-sugar diet.
Baking soda. Also cheap and useful in many other contexts.
What I have ended up doing is making my own toothpaste using kaolin clay, essential oils, marine salt and an infusion of herbs.
There are a lot of recipes on the internet for making your own toothpaste using natural ingredients as this one (which is very similar to the one that I followed) or this one.
I consider this more sustainable than conventional commercial toothpaste because I've reduced packing (also none of the packages are made of plastic) and the amount of chemicals used, which makes me believe that the environmental footprint of the industrial production must be bigger than the one caused by producing it myself at home but I have no actual data to support this claim.
I would like to suggest coconut oil mixed with baking soda, perhaps some calcium carbonate powdered and or a little salt and a flavoring agent, no fluoride since that is so toxic.
Flavor might be almost anything in the mint family even turmeric might be used.
The coconut oil is a natural anti fungal, anti bacterial and since decay is caused by bacteria is sure to help.
Since it can be made when need from ingredients kept individually not much packaging.
