From now through the end of May, we are inviting you to take the Good Drop Toothpaste Challenge. We’ll send you 3 toothpaste samples for you to try. You’ll vote on your favorites and, at the end of the month, we’ll reveal what was in each sample. Why are we doing this? Because so many toothpastes contain nasty ingredients; we’ve been exposing ourselves to them for years and are only just learning how bad they are. Let’s all make the shift to a better toothpaste.
Triclosan
Despite massive amounts of evidence about the health dangers of Triclosan, the FDA didn’t ban Triclosan until 2017, and even then it was only for handsoap and body washes! It is still legally allowed in toothpaste!!!!!!! “There is evidence that exposure to triclosan interferes with the production and activity of hormones in the body, which could contribute to infertility, early puberty, obesity, and other problems” You can still buy Colgate toothpaste with Triclosan in it, despite nearly every other company moving away from it. These brands are not making decisions with your best interests at heart. Do your research (or let me do it for you!)!
Fluoride
And while there is a similar looming backlash against fluoride, we don’t need to wait for the FDA ruling to make our own decision. You know why there are all the warnings again swallowing toothpaste on the back? Because of this one ingredient; Fluoride. A quick search for “MSDS Sodium Fluoride” will bring up a host of material safety data sheets (MSDS) for companies that they use to inform their employees about the safety of the various chemicals they are working with. Most MSDS for Fluoride include the same warnings, but I’ll use this one from Fisher Scientific as an example “Danger! Causes irritation and possible burns by all routes of exposure. May be fatal if swallowed.” Seriously?!? (Full disclosure: my kids do still sometimes use Fluoride toothpaste – they love those cute samples from the dentist. Ugh – I do my best to instruct them on good spitting and rinsing when they brush. As much as I can, we are moving away from them though.)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) (which coincidentally I used to do some contracting with back in my old life as a Federal Government Contractor) even lists Colgate Total Advanced Whitening Toothpaste as “IARC: Group 2B- Possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Is that something you want to be putting in your mouth? Worse, in your kids’ mouths? Heavens no!!!!!
I have to be honest with you and say when I started to write today’s post I was not planning on going in this direction. I had in my mind I was going to write about how baking soda can be a gentle enamel-friendly abrasive, and peppermint and clove oils have so many oral health benefits… but as I researched I got more and more horrified by what I was finding (and from reputable, independent sources that don’t accept drug company dollars for their studies, like NIH and Consumer Reports.)
So now this is what you are getting – a Tipster Tuesday post that is half rant, half plea for common sense. I still shake my head at the state of testing and labeling requirements for personal care products in the US.
If you want to do more of your own research here are a couple of articles that summarize the safety of common toothpaste ingredients from Consumer Reports and LiveStrong.
Giveaway
So let’s get to the fun bit! Head on over to this page and enter your details, and we’ll send you 3 all-natural toothpaste samples for you to try. None of the nasty ingredients I just ranted about above. We promise!
You’ll be trying three of the Toothpastes highlighted above:
- Young Living Thieves Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste: Fresh Peppermint; gently cleans teeth with an advanced formula, include Thyme for an herbaceous clean
- Young Living Thieves Dentarome Plus Toothpaste: Fresh Wintergreen; formulated with gentle, odor-absorbing baking soda for fresher breath
- Young Living Thieves Aromabright Toothpaste: Sweet Mint; combines the best features of Dentarome Ultra/Plus and adds Ocotea for extra cleansing boost
- Young Living Kidscents Slique Toothpaste: Citrus; fruity-flavor gently cleans teeth with a safe naturally derived formula specifically created for children
Try them out (each sample has enough for a couple of uses). See which ones you like, and at the end of the month, we’ll reveal which toothpaste is in each sample! Plus, you’ll get to vote for your favorite Young Living natural toothpaste in our facebook group. Which one will win!?!?! Sign up for the challenge!
