Toothpaste with a Conscience

Toothpaste with a Conscience

Last week, I had an interesting chat with one young lady completing treatment who told me she was on a mission to go completely cruelty-free. She had succeeded with cosmetics and her next challenge was dental health products. I was inspired to look into this for myself and did some research.

I found a site with a long list of cruelty free cosmetic brands, both in the luxury and high street markets. You’d be surprised by some of the big names which now have products proclaiming admirable, ethical standards. However, when it comes to dental health products, it’s difficult to find ethically produced options that also contain ingredients which I consider to be essential, such as fluoride. The best known toothpastes are owned by big brand names and the likelihood is that all of them will have developed products based on animal testing.

Don’t forget your dental health

As someone who belongs to an orthodontic team, I am aware of the proven benefits of fluoride on tooth enamel. The Oral Health Foundation says: fluoride can greatly help dental health by strengthening the tooth enamel, making it more resistant to tooth decay. It also reduces the amount of acid that the bacteria on your teeth produce.

I was pleased to see that the author of beauty blog ‘Cruelty-free Kitty‘ gave a word on the benefits of fluoride and had included Tom’s of Maine’s Simply White Natural toothpaste that both contains fluoride and has the ADA’s approval.

Generation Y

Over the last few years, I’ve had many conversations around subjects such as organic meat, ethical cosmetics, and green issues. A recent study suggested that Generation Y ie those born between roughly 1980-1995, are the most ethical generation to date. There’s certainly a lot more new information available and choices relating to alternative products.

I am also happy to say that round here, there are choices in ethical products, not necessarily toothpaste, but soaps and gels. Oxfam in Marylebone High Street has just introduced a range and Superdrug, which produces its own line of dental health products has started to display the ‘leaping bunny logo’ which is associated with brands whose products are not tested on animals.

My opinion? Do your research. If you are interested in going cruelty free, when it comes to toothpaste, shop around and experiment with a few of the alternative brands such as Tom’s of Maine. However, don’t forget to keep your teeth healthy- I would always advise making sure that you choose a toothpaste that contains fluoride.

2023-07-25T16:14:50+01:00For Patients|
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