Though we've been using natural, eco-friendly toothpaste brands for decades, we sometimes wonder how they rate. Our personal experience has been excellent, but it's helpful to know what the professionals think. The Green Life recently asked five high-profile dentists for their own recommendations, and here's what they said:
• Emanuel Layliev, director of the New York Center for Cosmetic Dentistry - Tom's of Maine Whole Care
• Fred Pockrass, co-founder of the Eco-Dentistry Association - PerioPaste from Bio-Pro Dental
• Mitch Marder, of Seattle's Integrated Dentistry - Coral White
• Joe Kravitz, author of Dirty Mouth - his own toothpaste recipe
• David Fields, of Fields Cosmetic and Family Dentistry - Kiss My Face Triple Action
The dentists considered factors like fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, sweeteners, animal testing, packaging, and flavor. And, yes, one of them actually recommended a DIY recipe!
• Read more: Dentists Name Their Favorite Eco-Toothpastes (The Green Life)
What kind of toothpaste do you use?
Related: Greening Our Habits: Tom's of Maine Toothpaste
(Image: Amber Byfield)
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Sometimes you just have to give up on green--I'm really cavity-prone so I actually use a prescription toothpaste with extra flouride content.
I'm sure it has all kinds of horrible nonsense in it, but this one's a lesser of two evils situation for me.
a friend of mine has a dentist who is on a mission against the Tom's of Maine toothpastes. Apparently over the last 5 years he saw a huge uptick in cavities in patients who had never before had cavity problems. He investigated and found that all of them had changed to Tom's. My friend, who had 1 cavity in her life prior to Tom's, had a whopping 5 cavities after two years of Tom's.
15 years of Tom's = zero cavities
I have the same situation as mandarinmarie. I have a feeling that all-natural toothpastes are great for those with naturally healthy and resilient teeth. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. . .
Oh well.
I once had to sit through a two and a half minute long Tom's of Maine commercial on Hulu. After that I'm seriously reconsidering buying from them again.
orrismb- I totally agree. If you were blessed with naturally strong teeth, natural toothpastes seem like a great choice. But speaking as someone who got a genetic nightmare for my soft teeth, I need every chemical on them I can get.
My dentist too put me on crazy prescription flourides and sensitivity toothpaste and, as far as I know, they don't make a natural sensitive toothpaste do they?
Actually, Tom's makes a toothpaste for sensitive teeth. It even says on the packaging that the active ingredient that helps against sensitive teeth is the same in their formula as it is in the leading brands.
My son used to have a cavity every cleaning for years. Once we actually switched to NO flouride...hasn't had a cavity since. That was 3 1/2 yrs. ago. Most of this country is actually over-fluoridated, which hurts more then it helps.
we've been getting burt's bees' new toothpaste - i wanted whitening, my husband has sensitive gums, we're both quite happy thus far. next dentist visit will confirm/deny our decision, i suppose.