Zero Waste Action #3: Tooth Powder

I first heard about tooth powder from my friend who has been using it for awhile now. So when I started down the journey of changing one habit per week to reduce the amount of waste I create, replacing toothpaste with powder came to mind. While at the zero waste shop down the street I saw the little jars with the product in two varieties—plain or charcoal mint. I thought plain would be a boring choice and opted for the charcoal mint for some flavor. That was not the best decision, but its tolerable. The charcoal is just such a strong flavor that I think the plain version would have been the way to go.

My husband was skeptical of the new toothpaste, wondering how well it would actually clean my teeth and whether they would start to yellow. I was pretty positive there would be no such issue since my friends teeth look just fine, but I did some research to make sure.

One major difference between paste and powder is the powder does not foam or give you that extra clean feeling. Coincidentally, I had been listening to the book, The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg, and in one chapter he was discussing products with extra features that have no purpose whatsoever except to make the user feel a certain way. Toothpaste is one of those products. The foaming sensation is completely useless as a cleaning factor and was only added to entice people to actually use toothpaste and create a habit of brushing their teeth.

And just like almost everything I have changed so far, it is not a new concept. Tooth powder dates to before Cleopatra’s time in Egypt. It was mass marketed in the 1800’s in Britain and first used in a tube form in 1892 in Connecticut. After WWII fluoride was added to help strengthen tooth enamel, despite its toxic effects if actually swallowed. The changes were once again a way to make thing easier for the public to use.

So what exactly is in the powder? Most include bentonite clay which is rich in minerals to help nourish gums and teeth, salt for healing irritated gums, baking soda which is a gentle abrasive for polishing and whitening your teeth, xylitol which sweetens the powder and stimulates saliva production, and some sort of flavoring like charcoal, cinnamon, or cloves. Compare that to your standard toothpaste which has almost 20 ingredients, including blue-1 and PEG-12, two ingredients that are completely superficial and only included to make the paste smooth and colored.

In summary, the switch to refilling my little glass jar with tooth powder instead of buying plastic tubes of paste that are thrown away was an easy one. The powder provides the same cleaning power with less added ingredients. I am an adult who knows I need to brush my teeth twice a day and do not need it to be colored blue or foam to make me want to do it. It requires no additional effort to use. Instead of wetting my tooth brush and applying the paste I just dip the wet toothbrush into the jar of powder. I also like the added bonus of one less item to squeeze into my quart sized bag for liquids when flying.