Update on Zero Waste Dental Care

Your average commercial toothpaste has a few issues.  One, it is filled if a plastic tube made with  multiple layers of different plastics, making it impossible to recycle it.  Second, even though toothpaste is rinse only, commercial toothpastes often contain a range of chemicals such as fluoride, triclosan, carrageenan, sodium lauryl sulphate that are not good for your health.     This is also not to mention the addition of plastic microbeads that used to be added to toothpaste.  A friend of mine told me her dentist found blue plastic microbes under her gums that had to be removed.  Horrifying!

In one of my very early blogposts, I shared my experience with homemade toothpaste made of coconut oil and baking soda.  I had stopped using it because the coconut oil was difficult to dispose of and I essentially had to spit into a separate container after brushing my teeth.  Not very appealing.  For a while, I did what Bea Johnson from Zero Waste Home did and just used baking soda.  While I think it worked reasonably well, the taste was not the best.  For those of you who have not tried it, baking soda is very salty.   There is no minty fresh taste like for commercial toothpastes.  That being said, I believe my breath was fresh but I never really got used to the taste and would occasionally use my husband’s standard toothpaste.  When I was looking on the “Life without Plastic” website, I saw that they were selling two zero waste toothpastes from Nelson Naturals (Canadian made).  I decided to give them a try.  

Trying out zero waste toothpaste alternatives (and not afraid to have an ugly picture of me on my blog)

One option consists of solid dental tabs that you chew. 

After chewing, the dental tablets start to foam and then you can brush.  Although the foam produced is not very thick, the taste is quite appealing and it does clean well.

The second toothpaste is more similar to a toothpaste texture.  You can use a spoon to put it on your toothbrush and then brush away.   If you are not going to share the jar, you can dip your toothbrush directly into the jar but this definitely seems like more of a risk from a microbiological point of view.  From an aesthetics standpoint, this toothpaste foamed more than the tabs but was definitely more salty tasting.  I liked the texture of the foam of this product.

In both cases, my teeth felt very clean.  I plan to continue to use these products and will probably re-order the dental tablets.

On the downside, the packaging is not reusable and you cannot buy refills in paper or cardboard packaging.  I also understand that Lush sells dental tabs but they too do not have a compostable packaging option:

Dental Tablets from Lush

I will have to give the Lush products a try.  I also found another Canadian company called Unpacked that sells dental powder:

Dental Powder from Unpacked Canadian Zero Waste Co

Like the zero waste toothpaste and baking soda, you dip your wet toothbrush into the powder.   It has compostable packaging so it is worth a try but for now, I really like the dental tablets.  They are easy to use and taste great.

For the rest of my dental hygiene, I am continuing to use a bamboo toothbrush and compostable dental floss.  Note that while the bamboo toothbrush is compostable, the bristles are not. They are made of nylon.  The only non plastic option is boar’s hair but I have not tried it.  For the floss,  I am using one made out of silk in a recyclable carton.

My husband has even started to use it, even though he complains that it breaks more easily than his usual nylon (non-compostable) dental floss in a non-recyclable,  non-compostable plastic container.     The dental floss is also readily available.  I can buy it at my bulk store, Vrac du Canal, but I even recently saw at a local pharmacy.  Zero waste is definitely going mainstream.

What plastic packaging are you giving up in your daily hygiene care?  Every little bit helps!