I started taking my oral care real seriously when my mom was diagnosed with periodontal disease a few years back. She thankfully was at a very early stage, but it motivated me to adhere to a better routine.
Since my "day job"/ career has me dipping toes in the Natural Industry as is, I'm always amazed to see at all the great natural ressources there are to care for your teeth kindly. Below you will find a easy clean beauty approach to oral care, I hope you enjoy!
MORNINGS
Detox : Oil pulling 3-4x times a week
Oil pulling is such a great way to start your day. I keep a small mason jar full of my favorite oil pulling recipe in my nightstand. I take 1/2 teaspoon upon waking and swish for about 10-15 minutes. I actually wrote a full post about this you can read here.
Tongue scrape - daily
Jihwa Prakshalana, or the Ayurvedic self-care ritual known as tongue scraping, is an an oral hygiene practice that removes bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue. This is my absolute favorite routine but it's kind gross and not for the faint of the heart. All jokes aside, you will be amazed by the amount of white goo (read bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells) from your lovely tongue.
It helps with halitosis (chronic bad breath), oral health and gut health as well.
Bamboo brush after breakfast -
I brush with a biodegradable Charcoal bamboo toothbrushes from The future is bamboo(TFIB).
I started using theirs after reading that 4 BILLIONS plastic toothbrushes end up in our oceans yearly. TFIB toothbrushes are biodegradable and super high quality.
I love that the soft and natural charcoal bristles are naturally whitening. Using high heat and temperature, TFIB blend bamboo charcoal with high quality bristles. You get the super whitening power of Charcoal without the mess of charcoal powder.
NIGHTS
1-2x a week - Brush with said bamboo toothbrush with charcoal powders OR charcoal toothpastes -
I do like to use charcoal toothpastes or powders once in a while, but I don't always want to deal with the mess it makes in my bathroom sink.
On a molecular level, Charcoal is highly absorbant and I do feel the brush alone gives a nice deep clean.
Did you know that in fact, Charcoal is used in hospitals with cases of poisoning to absorbs poison from stomach/GI track? It's that good.
When used with oral care routine, it helps whiten teeth (especially from acids such as coffee, tea and wine), absorbs halitosis bacteria and detox your mouth.
Floss, floss, floss -
I like this minty natural floss from Radius.
Last step - mouth wash -
I found a great and affordable aloe vera and vitamin C based, safe enough to swallow rinse, and I'm never going to give it up! Dr Brite has fun flavors like wild berry and coco chai (YUM).
They have a children's line I would like to try too for my little one since we avoid Fluoride. And guess what, we don't have any cavities either :)
It always freaked me out to use a mouthwash that has a BOLD warning "harmful if swallowed, call your poison control center". Our mouth tissues are highly absorbant and it isn't something I'm ok to gamble with.
Comment below to let me know what you use and love!