Keep dental health without toothpaste? page 2

[Crabbcakes]

Toothpaste is totally unnecessary. Tooth cleaning, however, isn't negotiable. What you use to get the job done is up to you - different strokes for different folks depending on what they can stomach taste and texture-wise, what the mouth membranes will tolerate, and what gets the job done.

The common denominator for all of us here at the CrabbShack is floss and a stainless-steel tongue scraper. Each and every one of us has different tastes for pastes. My newly-discovered instant favorite is Redmond Earthpaste: only hydrated clay, xylitol, essential oil (of cinnamon, for ex), and sea salt. I have done baking soda, tooth powder, sea salt - lots of stuff. They didn't work for me, but to be honest, I wasn't Primal back then and I think that had more than 90% to do with my bad check-ups. Since Primal, my cleanings are amazing my hygienist (I go four times per year... if that tells you how much trouble I have with my teeth...).

[RaeVynn]

I've not used "toothpaste" for years. The glycerin in toothpaste, EVEN IN NATURAL BRANDS!!, blocks the pores of your teeth, preventing remineralization (blocked pores are bad. Really).

I do, however, use a few of "Uncle Harry's" tooth products, like the tooth powder, and the tooth and gum elixer oil (oil of peppermint and, um, something else). And, a waterpik. I love my waterpik.

[Crabbcakes]

I've not used "toothpaste" for years. The glycerin in toothpaste, EVEN IN NATURAL BRANDS!!, blocks the pores of your teeth, preventing remineralization (blocked pores are bad. Really).

The glycerin thing is slowly registering on my radar. If you care to, pop on over to my journal place and tell me more. My Third (third daughter) is facing fillings due to demineralization (not yet cavities) and I was actually going to tell the dentist to wait while I try the Weston Price cure-your-cavities thing. And every bit helps... would you?

[Denver Dave]

I switched to baking soda over a year ago and quite like it and more recently to Eco-Dent tooth powder which contains baking soda. A little bit of the Eco-dent goes a long way and I like the tooth powder better than just straight baking soda (bubbly).

As to the whole glycerin thing, I don't do glycerin, but there are two, not mutually exclusive lines of thinking. One is the health of your teeth depend mostly on what you put on them from the outside and the other line of thinking is the health of your teeth depend mostly on nutrition that effects how the teeth are nourished from the inside. In the past, I've spent most of my attention on the outside in approach, but recently I've been studying up on the inside out theories and started a separate discussion about dentinal flow (the fluid that flows from inside your teeth to the surface) here:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread72128.html

[Him]

A cinnamon stick, or a number of types of twigs, can replace both toothpaste and brush. Miswak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I bought a small container of tooth powder before an international jaunt a few years ago and still have some...it lasts a LONG time.

I have never liked toothpaste... it seems as though using it makes teeth cleaner for a short spell but actually makes them less healthy somehow.