Survival Dentistry
Teeth cleaning is the removal of dental plaque and tartar from teeth to prevent cavities, gingivitis, and gum disease. Severe gum disease causes at least one-third of adult tooth loss.
Tooth Decay is the most common global disease affecting every family. Over 80% of cavities occur inside pits and fissures on chewing surfaces where brushing cannot reach food left trapped after every meal or snack.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Toothpaste. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Tooth Decay is the most common global disease affecting every family. Over 80% of cavities occur inside pits and fissures on chewing surfaces where brushing cannot reach food left trapped after every meal or snack.
Since before recorded history, a variety of oral hygiene measures have been used for teeth cleaning. This has been verified by various excavations done all over the world, in which chewsticks, tree twigs, bird feathers etc have been recovered.
Many people used different forms of teeth cleaning tools. Indian medicine (Ayurveda) has used the neem tree (a.k.a. daatun) and its products to create teeth cleaning twigs and similar products for millennia. A person chews one end of the neem twig until it somewhat resembles the bristles of a toothbrush, and then uses it to brush the teeth.
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it acts as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in the elimination and/or masking of halitosis, and delivers active ingredients such as fluoride or xylitol to help prevent tooth and gum disease (gingivitis).
It is important to note that most of the cleaning is done by the mechanical use of the toothbrush, and not by the toothpaste. Salt and Baking soda are among materials that can be substituted for commercial toothpaste. Most toothpastes contain trace amounts of chemicals that may be toxic when ingested; toothpaste is not intended to be swallowed.
How To Make Toothpaste
Whether you don't like the flavor of commercial toothpaste or are looking for little ways to cut expenses, making toothpaste can be a fun project for anyone who's into making their own stuff. Plus, you can avoid many of the artificial ingredients contained in commercial toothpaste, such as sweeteners (usually saccharin), emulsifiers, preservatives, and artificial flavors.
Steps
It is important to note that most of the cleaning is done by the mechanical use of the toothbrush, and not by the toothpaste. Salt and Baking soda are among materials that can be substituted for commercial toothpaste. Most toothpastes contain trace amounts of chemicals that may be toxic when ingested; toothpaste is not intended to be swallowed.
How To Make Toothpaste
Whether you don't like the flavor of commercial toothpaste or are looking for little ways to cut expenses, making toothpaste can be a fun project for anyone who's into making their own stuff. Plus, you can avoid many of the artificial ingredients contained in commercial toothpaste, such as sweeteners (usually saccharin), emulsifiers, preservatives, and artificial flavors.
Steps
- Pour a half of a cup (110g) of baking soda into a mixing bowl . Baking soda has a natural cleansing ability and can even be found in some commercial toothpastes. It's non-toxic and will help polish your teeth. Some recipes call for table salt, in which case you should mix three parts of baking soda with one part of table salt.
- Add three teaspoons (15g) of glycerine for every 1/4 cup (55g) of dry mixture. This is optional; it acts as a sweetener. An alternative is Xylitol. It is a natural, sugarless sweetener that actually promotes tooth and gum health!
- Add 1/4 cup (60g) of household hydrogen peroxide and one drop of peppermint oil. Hydrogen peroxide naturally disinfects your mouth and will also help whiten your teeth. If you don't have it around, use water. The drop of peppermint oil will leave your mouth feeling fresh. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down very quickly in the presence of UV light, so it is necessary to store the toothpaste away from sunlight. If you're not into the peppermint flavor, some alternatives are ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, fennel, ginger, and almond extract. Whatever it is, make sure it doesn't have sugar added or that it isn't strongly acidic, since acids will produce a fizzing reaction with the baking soda.
- Mix the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda until it is a paste . If you need to, mix in more hydrogen peroxide until you get the right consistency. See Warnings below.
- Store the toothpaste in a small plastic container where it won't dry out. You can also purchase a small, empty lotion bottle so that you can squeeze out the toothpaste onto the toothbrush more easily, rather than dip it.
Tips
- If the baking soda proves to be too abrasive for your teeth or gums, you can get similar effects by rinsing your mouth with a very light baking soda solution after you've brushed with a bare brush. A milder abrasive is salt.
- Kids might enjoy adding food coloring to the toothpaste to make it more personal. This might be a good time to teach them about how colors mix to make new ones. Try to avoid artificial colors derived from coal tar (e.g. FD&C Yellow #5 (E102), FD&C Red #40 (E129), etc.), which have been linked to negative health issues including ADHD in children if they ingest them.
Tips
- Adding anything acidic (such as lemon or lime juice) to the toothpaste will cause a fizzling chemical reaction with the baking soda.
- Although some people may find baking soda to be too abrasive for daily use in a toothpaste, it is an ingredient found in some toothpastes approved by the American Dental Association.[3] Also, baking soda dissolves almost instantly in contact with water and saliva, which makes the solution as abrasive as salt water would be. Your toothbrush itself is far more abrasive (even the super-soft ones) than a fully dissolved baking soda solution. Baking soda is far less abrasive than the other common toothpaste abrasive, hydrated silica (otherwise known as sterilized wet sand).
- Only use household hydrogen peroxide, a common alternative to alcohol as a disinfectant. It is readily found at drugstores next to the rubbing alcohol and witch hazel. It has a 3% concentration, which is far more dilute than hair bleaching and industrial strength solutions. Consuming excessive amounts of hydrogen peroxide can result in poisoning, but according to the National Institutes of Health, "Most contact with household strength hydrogen peroxide is relatively harmless."[4] If you make sure that equal amounts of hydrogen peroxide and water are mixed into the toothpaste, you will be safer than using the 3% solution straight. Hydrogen peroxide always decomposes into water + oxygen, and does so faster in an alkaline solution, such as this toothpaste. Unless you make the toothpaste just before using, there is a very strong chance that the hydrogen peroxide has already decomposed. If you want to use hydrogen peroxide for its whitening effects on enamel, use this toothpaste immediately after making it.
- While children who use and regularly swallow conventional toothpaste are at risk of developing fluorosis[5][6] the only real concern from swallowing this toothpaste is the sodium content. The baking soda in this fluoride-free home remedy may be abrasive on teeth if you do not wait for the baking soda to dissolve fully, and the hydrogen peroxide can be irritating if swallowed, so it should be substituted completely with water.
- Toothpaste without fluoride may not protect enamel as well as toothpaste with fluoride, nor does it provide remineralization of decayed teeth. It may be prudent to consult with your dentist before switching yourself or your children.
- Do not eat toothpaste for any reason. Try to avoid swallowing it too, if possible. The small amount used for brushing is not usually harmful when accidentally swallowed, unless you are extremely sodium sensitive.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Toothpaste. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
