how to make your own toothpaste
I found a wonderful recipe for making your own toothpaste! My teeth have become way too sensitive after my last pregnancy, and even though we have always used Tom’s toothpaste (the version without the killer fluoride!) and I use a soft-bristled brush, they still tingled horribly. Tom’s brand is a great alternative to commercial toothpastes (ingredients below), but it still contains glycerin, which prevents your teeth from remineralizing because it covers the surface with a hard-to-remove substance. Since using my below toothpaste recipe, my teeth have never looked so shiny and sparkly — I am letting my teeth remineralize naturally!
Commercial Toothpaste ingredients: Sodium Fluoride 0.15% w/v fluoride ion, Baking Soda, Glycerin, Hydrated Silica, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Silica, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Saccharin, Titanium Dioxide, Water.
I also tried the “sensitive brand” which contains 5% potassium nitrate, scary, and that really shouldn’t be going into the human body. I was willing to try anything, but it hurt my teeth even worse than regular toothpaste. Fail. (And I returned it! I’ll return anything at a store if I don’t need it.) So when I found out from the Healthy Extremist that I could make my own with my beloved coconut oil, I was so excited to try it.
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Ingredients:
- 2 tbs coconut oil
- 2 tbs baking soda
- Peppermint essential oil — at least 10 drops
Directions:
- Soften your coconut oil on the stove top.
- Pour into a little glass container — a baby food jar works great!
- Add the baking soda and peppermint oil and stir.
- Stir every 5-10 minutes or so until the coconut oil hardens again –otherwise the baking soda will fall to the bottom: this is the tricky part.
Coconut oil is anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial. It is also full of nutrients such as lauric acid and saturated fat! and vitamin K and E that your body needs!
And baking soda is a very low abrasive to get your teeth clean! I checked out this chart made from a dentist at Save your Smile and baking soda is a “7” on the abrasive scale on a scale from 1 – 250.
It is difficult to get the paste onto my tooth brush because the coconut oil is 90% saturated fat — this means it is solid below about 75 degrees. I use my finger to put it on my tooth brush and then it melts on my mouth. I have heard of people using a hair dryer to soften it right before use. That seems time-consuming. However, in the summer months, the coconut oil will melt, so you’ll have more of a liquid to deal with. This may become too obnoxious, but I’ll see.
But…. my teeth feel so so so clean. I have been doing this for a week now, and they feel smooth (not grimy!) and they look sparkly…. I’m not making this up! I know they are clean because of how they feel and I have always been a “my teeth have to feel clean” type of person! I have found my perfect toothpaste (minus the minor hassle of getting it on my tooth brush) and I will continue to use it. 
Oh sweetheart the only thing that’s going to mineralize your teeth is fluoride… http://www.healthyteeth.org/prevention/fluoride.html
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I believe dental health comes from nutrition, and to a lesser extent, genetics. My grandfather was a dentist during the time for water fluoridation, so my family has strong ties to the issue, but I could never endorse it, as fluoride was never meant to be ingested.
Except fluoride is naturally in everything, it’s in fruit and water and a natural mineral? Of course it was meant to be ingested…
The ONLY natural form of fluoride is CaF2. There is NO toothpaste on the market that contains NATURAL fluoride, nor is there any municipal fluoridated water that contains CaF2.
I should have added, “except when naturally occurring.” Of course it is present in many foods in trace amounts :)
Very cool! This is one of the “easier” recipes I’ve seen and something that could actually work for us! Some of the other ones I’ve seen scared me off a bit. :) Good for you!
I hope you try it!! My teeth feel so smooth — I am really amazed :)
Are you still using this? This post is from 3 years ago I wanted to know how it’s been with time
What a great idea, Amy! When I was younger, we used to brush sometimes with baking soda and it actually works very well!
I am surprised how clean my teeth feel :)
Stopping by from Thrifty Thursday. I love your blog design! And I love this idea. I have thought about making my own toothpaste- hadn’t take into account the fact that it would stay solid, but I’m willing to give it a try!
Thanks Jamie :) I think it’s worth it, my teeth really feel great — going on a week and a half now :)
Passing this on to my mama! I already make my own, but with a different recipe. But this is alllmost exactly my mom’s deodorant recipe lol (she has arrowroot in the deo.)
Thanks for sharing with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday!! Hope you come link up again today!
I’d love to know your recipe! And I will have to try it as a deodorant! I am going to write a post soon about aluminum and toxicity in products we use everyday.
Very good info. Lucky me I ran across your
site by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve book marked it for later!
I’d like to try your recipe, but I can’t stand the taste of coconut. Does the peppermint oil totally cover up the taste of the coconut oil?
Susan, yes! I don’t taste coconut at all, I put a good 10-20 drops of peppermint and it tastes heavenly — I’m not wild about coconut either, even though coconut is sooo good for us :)
Thank you! Copying down the recipe.
Oooh, a simpler recipe! I have all sorts of long recipes…I like yours! I have all the ingredients too! We switched over to the non-flouride Toms ourselves…but when it runs out we will move to this!
I am really interested in this whole remineralizing business. I too have gotten progressively more sensitive teeth and would love to not have to use commercial toothpaste. Thanks for linking up with Pin It Tuesday.
My teeth have never felt more “slick” and clean and less-sensitive — it really is crazy (:) ) — you have to try it to believe it!
Love, love, love this! I have been slowly making my own things and I love making them and knowing what is in them.
Thanks,
KC
Let me know how you like it, I just finished my batch so I have to make a new batch, but it’s so simple :)
Im going to try it and add a few drops of Healthy Mouth Blend to toothbrush first. Thanks for posting it. Fluoride is dangerous to your thyroid health. Coconut oil is one of the best foods to help all your health. You may want to Check out the Healthy Mouth Blend from Ora Wellness. It is awesome. You can add it to your homemade toothpaste or a good natural toothpaste.
How long does this toothpaste last? Am I able to make a lot of it and keep it in a mason jar for a long period of time?
Yes you can!! I keep mine for ages :) :)