I ran out of toothpaste last week. I thought I could squeeze one more brushing out of the tube, but it was impossible. So I brushed my teeth without, and flossed and used mouthwash as usual.
My mouth didn’t feel any different, so I had to ask myself, do we really need toothpaste?
My dad was a dentist. I am well-acquainted with dental hygiene. Brush twice a day, brush your tongue, replace your toothbrush regularly, get a check-up every six months, and go easy on the sweets. This has kept me from major dental work most of my life.
In the last ten years or so, the emphasis at the dentist has been not so much on teeth as gum disease. A cleaning now consists of a laser cleaning beneath the gum line, a flossing and a quick scoot over the surfaces with the spinny thing dipped in an abrasive. Gum disease seems to be at the root (ha ha ha) of most dental problems. It’s not just cavities anymore!
So I began to think about toothpaste while I brushed without it.
> What good does it do? Does it just make your breath minty fresh, or does it actually clean?
> If our problems are below the gum line, does toothpaste get down in there and clean it out?
> I floss after a good brushing with toothpaste, and there is stuff between my teeth that a toothbrush and paste don’t get.
Our society is obsessed with cleanliness. My teenage daughters take every hygiene commercial to heart, and think they need this deodorant, that toothbrush, this face or body wash, that shampoo, and so on. They recite ads like they are absolute truth. (They have so much to learn about hype!) Toothpaste that makes their breath fresh is high on their list of must-haves.
Other countries don’t focus on the sterile lifestyle American ads purport. Articles have been written about how our children are sicker, because their homes are immaculate, and they are never exposed to dirt and germs. We are building up resistance to antibiotics, because of anti-bacterial hand soaps and other unnatural things we absorb into our bodies.
Indigenous people use chewing sticks, native plant parts that have antimicrobial qualities. They chew on a stick until it is frayed, all the while getting it’s disinfecting benefits, then they go over their teeth with the frayed end.
I met a woman in my travels about 20 years ago, and she did not brush her teeth. She had a twig in her hand, and she picked and cleaned her teeth and gums with that during the course of the day. She had beautiful teeth. I don’t know if this was a genuine chewing stick, which you can buy, or if she felt the way I do – keep the hidden spaces around your teeth clean.
So what’s up with toothpaste? It cleans the surfaces. It does not clean between your teeth or under your gums, where dental problems begin.
Toothpaste is a multi-billion dollar industry. The choices these days are overwhelming – whitening, breath-freshening, plaque-removing, tartar-controlling, paste, gel, paste-gel combo, travel size, family size and everything in between. Manufacturers want to please every corner of the market, since it’s all about money. Their ads tell you you have to have this product, or people won’t like you. Who doesn’t want to be liked? So we buy it – we buy their hype and their product. (photo: flickr Clean Wal-Mart)
But do we need it?
I think not. I figure I can brush sans toothpaste, floss, rinse with mouthwash and pick my teeth during the day as usual, and I’ll be fine. I mean, if toothpaste (and I use plain old toothpaste without all those amazing properties that will make me wildly popular) cleans the surfaces, I can do that with a good brush.
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Great post and you are so right about Americans being oversold, can I say brainwashed, on products that we “need”. Actually most of these products are making us sick. I do use toothpaste but I notice using and less and maybe soon it will just be salt, which works great. Glad that I caught your tweet to bring me to your web site-I m just down the road in Santa Fe would love to share some of your posts on smartlifeways.com.
Hi Michelle,
I could have gone on about the toxicity of toothpaste, but that’s a different subject, one that deserves its own post. Please feel free to share my posts with full credit! Thank you!
Nan
And I just subscribed to your RSS feed. :)
You are correct. We don’t need toothpaste, but there are a few benefits. Here are some of my thoughts on oral hygine I have picked up from years of dental experience (USN dental technician, prosthodontic clinical assistant, dental laboratory technician, B.S. in biology/ pre-dental).
-Stay away from whitening toothpaste they are very abrasive. They work by removing a small outer layer of enamel. This removes surface staining, but will not whiten teeth beyond their natural color (shade) like bleaching agents. Gels have the least amount of silica.
-Flavored toothpaste promotes good brushing habits in children.
-Flouride treatment for children and teens that are drinking bottled water in lue of Flouride treated municipal water (Note that some bottled water does contain Fl and charcoal filters do not filter out Fl). Adults need Fl Tx. less often.
-Flouride Tx (ie water treatment) is not a conspiracy.
-Froth formed by agitation (brushing) may trap/hold bateria making it easier to eliminate.
-Flossing is extreemly underestimated by the public and is critical to preventing periodontal disease.
-Brushing removes plaque and stimulates bloodflow of gingiva (gums). Plaque turnes into within ~72 hours. Tartar can only be removed by scaling [hand or ultrasonic (not sonicare)].
- Too many people blame ginetics for tooth decay and overlook family dietary history. Grains, esp refined (ie white bread), supply a significant amount of food for bacteria.
-Snacking and drinking throughout the day is a constant food supply for bateria.
I just don’t think we need toothpaste, period. It’s a bunch of hype. The whole hygiene and makeup obsession in the US is overboard to the tune of billions of dollars. If there were no commercials saying negative things about natural body functions like breath and sweat, no one would care. My kids, now 17 and 21, parrot the commercials to talk about the shine of their hair, the softness of their skin, their perfect teeth, deodorant, and on and on. If they did not watch commercials, they’d probably be able to form their own opinions. Sadly, the media is more powerful than our individuality.
I’ll agree that flossing is important, more so than toothpaste.
Fluoride is toxic. No one should be putting that in their body, especially in their mouth, where the mucous membranes are the most sensitive in the body. They absorb everything quickly.
Toothpaste is toxic, never mind the flavored ones.
It’s all about instilling fear to make you buy something. These things don’t really benefit us, they just make someone a lot of money, while people living on the edge struggle to pay for them. It’s twisted.
Hi…
I agree to what u r saying..but if toothpastes are not required then there must be some natural substitute to it…
I believe even using mouth-wash is not necessary beacuse it contains chemicals nevertheless.
So r u aware of any natural substitutes to have a similar fuction as a toothpaste??
Some people use baking soda and peroxide. There are natural toothpaste and mouthwash, too. I just don’t think we need to use toothpaste at all. It cleans the surface, not in between and under the gum, which is where problems arise.
I don’t use toothpaste very often. Toothbrushing and mouth rinsing should be enough.
I agree. :)
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