A few months ago I started getting wise to the idea that the “normal” oral care products that we use without a second thought may not be the best for our mouths.
Ingredients like fluoride, alcohol and abrasives in mouthwash and toothpaste are a result of the ultra-commercialization of our self-care routines and may not actually give us the result we are looking for, which is of course: strong beautiful healthy teeth and gums!
I’ve found many sources that support the idea of making your own natural oral care products with safe household ingredients. The underlying thought is not to put anything in your mouth that you wouldn’t eat! You definitely wouldn’t eat toothpaste – it has a warning right on the tube that says do not swallow more than a pea-sized amount.
The gums, mouth tissues and sinuses are one of the fastest routes to the bloodstream through an ultra-thin layer of skin. Why do you think people take cocaine by rubbing it on their gums or inhaling it? Gross reference, I know, but it’s true. Therefore I’m happy to have stopped administering chemicals right into my bloodstream with commercial toothpastes and mouthwashes.
Here is what I use for mouthwash instead:
Just mix up in a glass (rough amounts):
1. 1/2 tsp of baking soda
2. 1/3 tsp of good sea salt
3. 2 drops of tea tree oil
4. 2 drops of peppermint oil
5. the powder from one emptied-out calcium-magnesium capsule
with a little bit of warm water, so that it looks like this:
Mix it up until the salt crystals dissolve, then slurp it back and slosh around your mouth thoroughly for a good minute or so. Sometimes if I put too much water in I have to do it in 2 mouthfuls to use up all the good ingredients.
It doesn’t sting or burn like commercial mouthwash, and leaves a nice clean herbal taste.
Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments! Or maybe you have your own recipe you can share? I’d love to hear about it!
