Is commercial toothpaste safe?

Toothpaste is used daily and in (sometimes) generous amounts. While fluoridated toothpaste may have some value topically, the fact that much of it is swallowed during use is what poses a danger to your health. This is because the fluoride used in such products is sodium fluoride (a by-product of, primarily, the phosphate fertilizer industry).

We’ve all been led to believe fluoride is good for maintaining healthy teeth, but this just isn’t the truth at all. Data compiled by the World Health Organisation shows absolutely no difference in tooth decay in countries that use fluoridated water compared with countries that don’t. In mid 2007 even the American Dental Association (a long-time proponents of fluoride) reversed its position. It now advises dentists against giving babies fluoride because of its adverse effect on bone growth.

The following is a list of the ways in which fluoride can affect you and your family and is taken from the book Take Control of your Life by Dr Joseph Mercola and Dr Kendra Pearsall:

• 

  Fluoride accumulates in your bones, making them brittle and more easily fractured.

• Fluoride accumulates in your Pineal gland, which may inhibit the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin helps regulate the onset of puberty.
• Fluoride damages tooth enamel (known as dental fluorosis) and may lower fertility rates.
• Fluoride has been found to increase the uptake of aluminium into your brain and lead into blood.
• Fluoride inhibits antibodies from forming in your blood.
• Fluoride confuses the immune system, causing it to attack the tissues in your body. This can increase the growth rate of tumours in people prone to cancer.

There are plenty of natural alternatives on offer. Some come in commercial form and are available at most good health stores.

For the more adventurous, you can make your own:

• 5 teaspoons food-grade bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons Himalayan salt
• 1-2 drops Oragano oil
• Mix with water into a paste and use on your brush

In place of commercial mouthwash, a good antiseptic alternative is gargling with salt water. If bad breath is the problem, it’s very likely to be coming from the gut (not the mouth). Focus on what you’re eating and drinking in order to deal with this problem.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Tanya Wyatt

Owner at The Happy Body

Tanya started out as a professional ballet dancer. Swopping her pointe shoes for takkies, she decided being a hip hop dancer was way cooler, so chopped off her bun and joined a street dance company. For many years, she also taught dance and fitness classes in Cape Town before deciding that nutrition and lifestyle coaching was the way to help people change their state of health for the better. So, while writing two health and fitness books, she moved to London to study and began her ‘real life’ – that as a health and lifestyle coach. She’s been in private practice for 10 years now, is a mom of a 7-year old pig-tailed ball of energy, writes for various national and local health publications and is a health presenter when the occasion arises. Oh – and once a dancer, always a dancer – she’s also taken up ballet pole dancing 🙂 Click here to contact Tanya.

Latest posts by Tanya Wyatt (see all)

• DIE with a capital ‘T’ - 3 October 2014
• Time to ditch the wagon? - 1 September 2014
• Tips for avid Cheescake Eaters - 5 August 2014
• Falling off the Wagon - 2 July 2014
• The future’s a promissory note; the past a cancelled cheque - 3 June 2014