mouthwash — Research Notes — Pullback Podcast

One of the earliest lessons we learn in life is how to brush our teeth. We spend about 1,460 minutes every year meticulously scrubbing those pearly whites. Given how much of our time is going to dental hygiene, how could we calibrate this daily habit to match our values?

Toothbrushes

It pays to think about the sustainability of your toothbrush, since this is a product that you replace fairly regularly. It is recommended to replace toothbrushes about every three months, which means that you will go through a dozen of them every three years.

Waste-free mavens (like Trash is for Tossers) point to the virtues of bamboo toothbrushes. And they’ve got a very good point. In the US, somewhere between 1 billion and 3.5 billion toothbrushes are thrown away annually. That accounts for approximately 50 million pounds of plastic waste every year. The waste from discarded toothbrushes ends up in landfills and oceans. As such, toothbrushes are a significant cause of plastic pollution in our oceans. In total, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually. Bamboo toothbrushes, unlike their plastic counterparts, will biodegrade if properly disposed of in a compost bin. There are plastic toothbrushes made from recycled materials (like this one), but ultimately these will still contribute to plastic waste.

On the sustainability front, toothbrushes with bamboo shafts are an easy choice. You can also buy bamboo toothbrushes with replaceable brush heads, which would reduce the amount of bamboo that you are consuming and disposing. Bamboo toothbrushes are now available in many grocery stores, as well as natural foods stores. You can also buy them online, but this often requires more packaging.

Things get a bit trickier when we move to the bristles of the toothbrush. There are some trade-offs. Vegans especially should take note: as this article highlights, you will have to choose between a fully-compostable toothbrush with pig hair bristles and vegan toothbrushes that use one of two nylon compounds for the bristles. The trouble with nylon is that it will not break down in a consumer compost bin.

Nylon-4 has been demonstrated to be biodegradable in lab studies, but it is not compostable. Nylon-11 is made from castor oil and can be recycled, but only if you remove them from the bamboo handle with pliers and find a nylon recycling facility.

My current toothbrush is from Brush with Bamboo.

For the curious, we looked into electric toothbrushes and found this interesting article that compares electric vs disposable toothbrushes. Between the disposable heads, the batteries, and the energy usage of an electric toothbrush, we’ve decided we land on the side of disposable, especially if the handle is bamboo.

Toothpaste

Here’s how toothpaste works:

Toothpastes contain mild abrasives that scrub away plaque, which is acidic and breaks down the enamel. Fluoride strengthens/protects tooth enamel (the outer layer of the tooth). Some toothpastes also include: detergents (make the toothpaste foam); humectants (e.g. glycerin; these help the toothpaste to retain moisture so that it doesn’t try out); preservatives (prevent the toothpaste from growing bacteria); and flavouring/colouring agents.

If you’re interested in looking at the recipes Kyla used to make her own unsuccessful toothpaste, you can find them here and here.

What’s the deal with fluoride in toothpaste?

A lot of vegan and waste-free toothpastes out there do not have fluoride. This has to do with concerns about the health risks of fluoride, which are largely unsubstantiated. Fluoridated toothpaste has been shown to be safe and effective in preventing tooth decay. Too much fluoride can be bad - you shouldn’t be swallowing your toothpaste - but if used appropriately fluoridated toothpaste is a safe and effective way to prevent cavities.

The prevalence of fluoride-free toothpaste also has to do with regulatory rules. Essentially, whether or not toothpaste is fluoridated is a key determinant in how toothpaste is regulated. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration requires that toothpaste with fluoride in it be regulated as a drug and a cosmetic. Toothpaste without fluoride is regulated as a cosmetic. Cosmetic products don’t require FDA approval before they go on the market, whereas drugs do.

In Canada, if you put fluoride in toothpaste (and some other things), it has to be regulated as a “Natural Health Product” - which is the pathway for non-prescription health products like vitamins. Natural health products are a subset of the wider category of drugs. There are specific rules about the concentrations you can use, what safety statements need to go on the product (e.g.: do not swallow), etc. Toothpastes without fluoride are regulated as cosmetics. Producers of non-fluoridated toothpaste have to represent their product as a cosmetic. So, for example, a “kills germs” is a drug claim but “kills bacteria that cause odour” is a cosmetic claim. Natural health products require a licence before they can be sold, whereas companies just need to notify Health Canada that they are selling a new cosmetic. Cosmetics have to be safe, but regulation is complaint-based. So, it is more onerous to sell a fluoridated toothpaste, which is perhaps why so many waste-free/vegan toothpastes don’t have it.

When discussing fluoride in tap water and food, Kyla cited 123dentist.com, Metro Vancouver, and Epcor. When she decided to try adding cacao as a fluoride replacement, this is the study she was basing that information on. We don’t think there has been enough research to count on this as an actual alternative, and she probably added the wrong ingredient to get the benefits anyway, but she figured what the heck and tried it for fun.

Dental Floss

Dental floss is another product for which cruelty-free and waste-free objectives often clash. You can get waste-free dental floss made with silk. Silkworms are boiled alive in silk farming. So, if animal welfare is important to you, this may be a no-go.

There are vegan dental flosses, but they are usually made with nylon (a petroleum product which is difficult to recycle). And because it can’t be composted, nylon floss can end up in the ecosystem where it may injure or kill animals. So, nylon dental floss, too, is less than ideal for animal welfare.

I was able to find a brand that is both vegan and compostable. Flosspot Gold is made from corn fibre and coated with candelilla wax. It comes in a small jar, which you can refill. Flosspot Gold is less readily available than the silk Flosspot, which might make it difficult for you to find. You can buy it online, but none of the companies I was able to find have a plastic-free packaging guarantee. Sustain commits to reducing and reusing packaging where possible, so you may wish to go with them. If you are in Alberta, the Apothecary in Inglewood may also be an option.