Recently, I stumbled across an article that talked about toothpaste ingredients and the issues they can actually cause rather than prevent— and it startled me. I know there are TONS of natural toothpaste companies out there nowadays… yet they’re a bit pricey. If I can make something simple + effective at home for a fraction of the price, why not? Here’s my very own homemade toothpaste recipe… full of only the good stuff.
I can honestly say this is the best natural toothpaste I’ve tried, and that’s saying something since I’ve been on the hunt for a great option for a while!
Note: There is no fluoride in this recipe. Depending on your stance with this, feel free to add in a fluoride product or use a fluoride mouthwash afterwards.
Common toothpaste ingredients
Two ingredients that have a pretty bad wrap are:
1. Glycerin: It gives toothpaste a nice creamy texture and coats the teeth for “protection”, yet at the same time it also stops re-enamalization (so cavities can’t self-heal.)
2. Sodium fluoride: A by-product of aluminum manufacturing that is found in rat poisons and industrial pesticides).
Scary stuff, huh? Well, rather than freak out about it every time I brush my teeth, I decided to make some homemade toothpaste sans weird stuff. And yes— I threw in some wonderful coconut oil that I’m beyond obsessed with and it’s millions of effective uses.
Natural toothpaste recipe
Once I started experimenting with a homemade toothpaste recipe, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how few ingredients I actually needed. My recipe has 4 ingredients, with an optional 5th if you add in activated charcoal. Not only is this recipe simple, it contains only plant based ingredients that are common. No weird chemical compounds or additives here!
When whipping up a batch of this homemade toothpaste, I typically triple the batch. That way each bathroom has its own container, so there’s no family fights over the jar. To keep the ingredients light and airy, I use an immersion blender rather than mixing with a blender or food processor.
Antibacterial essential oils
If you choose the right essential oils, then you can create a strong antibacterial toothpaste. I suggest these essential oils, which I typically purchase from Plant Therapy:
- Grapefruit Oil
- Peppermint Oil
- Tea Tree Oil
- Orange Oil
- Lemongrass Oil
I am thrilled to have found a homemade toothpaste replacement that I actually enjoy using as well as have fun making. I like that I can tweak the recipe depending on my personal preference at the time (sweeter, minty, fruity, etc— it’s all about what essential oils I put in it). This summer I made a batch with grapefruit oil and it has a citrus-tang to it, which was refreshing. Now I am using eucalyptus oil and I love the minty taste.
How to store DIY toothpaste
I like to store homemade toothpaste in a wide-mouth mason jar or leak-proof metal tin. Use a popsicle stick to dip into the toothpaste and and then spread your toothbrush. You can also use a squirt bottle and cut a wide tip on it to help it come out.
Homemade Dog Toothpaste
YES… I made this recipe for me and my family… yet it also works with dogs! Since my sweet dog (Barrett the Huskador), cannot resist licking and swallowing everything in his face, I made this for him too. Since they are completely natural ingredients, there’s no harm if he licks it while I brush.
Homemade Toothpaste DIY
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- air tight container
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp coconut oil
- 6 tbsp baking soda
- 25 drops essential oil eucalyptus, grapefruit, peppermint
- 1 tsp stevia or more if you like it sweeter
- activated charcoal optional
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. I used my to whip it really well and give it a light creamy texture.
- Pour into a mason jar and seal it up until ready to use.
Notes
- Getting it out of the mason jar can be an adjustment. Use a popsicle stick to dip into the toothpaste and spread nicely onto the toothbrush. You can also use a squirt bottle (you will need to cut the pointed tip wider).
- Adding activated charcoal can be a gentle way to whiten your teeth.
Nutrition
Other DIY recipes
If this natural recipe has piqued your interest in more natural products you can use in your home, then I’ve got some more great recipes for you. These recipes are plant based versions that seriously work, just like this homemade toothpaste recipe:
Umm don’t all toothpaste companies make toothpaste with baking soda in it. There are risks in all meds and ingredients ur curing one thing and getting sick with another. If someone wants to make their own toothpaste it’s up to them to do the research and decide if it’s for them. Some people are just plain rude and must not have any patients because they are horrible at dentistry anyway and tryin to blame u two young ladies!! Keep coming with ur info I love it!
Thanks, Tamicka! 🙂
Thanks Sophia. I appreciate the support and can’t wait to spend some time on the Facebook page as well as the links they share. Wow— lots of great stuff. I’m thrilled to have you on here and hope you stick around for our next 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge that starts April 1. Think you will enjoy it. Thanks again…
Just a testimonial….
I have 4 kids ages 19-10. We eat a healthy diet with very little sugar, no soft drinks….. They have never used flouride toothpaste and all floss regularly. They rarely go to the dentist for a cleaning (about once every 3 years), and 2 of them have had braces. In almost 20 years of parenting, our kids (and my husband and I) have had only 1 cavity between the 6 of us.
If a child eats a sugary foods, goes to sleep with a bottle in his mouth, doesn’t brush or floss regularly… it stands to reason that he will have cavities. The success is in the healthy diet and good home care, NOT in the flouride. I personally know numerous children who brush daily with flouride and still have a mouthful of cavities.
Thank you so much for your testimonial, Lisa! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experience Lisa. Have you used any toothpaste at all or are you dry brushing?
I just wanted to say hoo-rah to “Dentist”. I used to work in the medical field and still know many people that do, and it’s extremely maddening when patients (or parents of patients in my experience) ignore advice that has been given thanks to REAL research by professionals, and then end up in the ER or worse because of their poor choices.
My husband and I took custody of his 4 children in September of last year – at the time, they each had a minimum of 6 cavities, and the 9 yr old & 11 yr old had to have root canals, and his 8 year old daughter had an abscessed tooth. (they also all had Pertussis, but that’s for a different discussion). They had been using homemade baking soda toothpaste for 2 years. After being with us for 6 months and using REAL toothpaste, they are all cavity free. That speaks volumes to me right there.
Baking soda & oil? Doesn’t sound like it would clean ANYTHING to me. The only thing I use Coconut oil for is moisturizing of hair and dry skin. I know it supposedly has great “healing properties”, etc, but I would NOT trust it to clean teeth.
Well said, “Dentist”. Well said. And thank you for all you do for all those people that are in such pain and distress, especially the children you treat. You are an angel.
I’m happy that my toothpaste recipe has stirred such a discussion! Thanks BarbsieJean for sharing your story. This is a choice that every has the right to make— and I’m glad we are all educating ourselves about it. I shared my personal recipe with you because it works and my family has great teeth (no cavities, root canals etc). It could be because we brush our teeth twice a day and it might also correlate with the fact that we consume real foods and drink green smoothies daily. There are many factors that play into healthy gums and teeth— more than just the toothpaste you use.
Yes, big name toothpaste works and fluoride is proven to prevent cavities— but at what expense? It’s something for you to personally think about and decide once you have all the information. Thanks for being open and sharing your story here.
I spend my weekends in the ER taking a bur and scalpel to drain pus from people’s jaws and extract what’s left of hopeless teeth consumed by cavity, and my week days in the operating room with 3 and 4yo children who’s teeth are rotting out of their heads.
When we try to formulate a treatment plan to combat their rampant dental disease and they tell me that they stopped or won’t use fluoride (one of the only and certainly the best tool we have to help them) because they heard it was bad for them, I’m holding sites like this responsible.
Did you even realize that your invented mixture is terrible for people with white/porcelain crowns/caps? Grocery store baking soda is abrasive enough to take the glaze off of the porcelain. That glaze is like teflon to bacteria, keeping it from sticking. Once that glaze is gone, its gone- and the tooth is that much more susceptible to a new cavity. So, like YOU said, people should be educated about the ingredients in the products they use (and recommend).
There are certainly alternatives, ^the woman who was using the natural toothpaste was one of them. Baking soda does have its benefits for SOME people, depending on the type of dental disease they have. The point is that this conversation and this area of healthcare should be a discussion with your dentist- not ‘Dr. Oz’ and not a smoothie/health-food expert. If you have strong objections after hearing the medical recommendations, then they will work with you, but you deserve to know. Protect yourself people, there’s a lot of hocus-pocus out there, and they’re only “just teeth” until they’re gone!
We can’t do our jobs unless people take care of themselves correctly. Promoting that traditional toothpaste are “scary,” contain “rat poison” derivatives and people have reason to “freak out” every time they brush because you did “research,” and should instead use some unproven concoction, is ignorant and irresponsible. You talk about healthcare like it is religion, where you can simply choose what works for you and that will heal you. You can’t simply believe that herbs and oils can cure cancer and have it be so.
So, to answer you, there ARE two sides to every story, and I find it offensive that you post websites promoting un-educated and skewed information about some of the best tools we have to help people. You are discrediting TRULY educated and proven healthcare.
This is wasted breath on someone who would rather believe that something whipped-up out of their pantry is better than years of science and research. I just hope that someone considering changing part of their healthcare will take the following into consideration-
Especially if you have or have had several cavities, or a history of erosion on your teeth, please please please talk to a professional before chaining your routine. Preventative medicine does nothing to benefit anyone but the patient, and that is truly our first priority!
Id just like to take a second to point out that there is nothing wrong with taking the holistic approach to health care. Yes there are herbs that cure cancer; Hemp oil being the most dominant, and yes i do believe that something whipped up from your pantry using a recipe passed down for generations, works better then a man made chemical that does more damage to the rest of your body, then it helps your teeth. These people may not be doctors or dentists. But a tleast they are on the right track to healthy living, and holistic healing, which in my opinion, is a hell of a lot better for you then anything i can find in the ER
UUUUHHHHGGG!!! Seriously?!
Yes, dentists all recommend this stuff because they/we don’t know what we’re talking about and its a big conspiracy from the toothpaste companies that they are really trying to make a product that hurts teeth- is an evil plot! Sure.
#1: “Google-ing” is not research. Be smart. Look at the peer-reviewed, respect journals of that profession’s field. Anyone can post something on the internet and call it a “study” or “scientific article.”
#2: Re-enamilization is not a word. Yes, the body can REMINERALIZE some cavities IF you keep acid out of your mouth and have enough minerals in your saliva to offer the ‘building blocks’ it needs.
#3: That acid I mentioned comes from the bacteria (bacteria that is in everyones mouth, their whole lives, and should be as part of our normal flora). The bacteria use the sugars from the foods we eat, digest it, spit out acids, that weaken/demineralize teeth, causing cavities.
Guess what most coconut oils contain? SUGAR. Guess what’s acidic? Grapefruit/citrus juice. Guess what’s abrasive? Baking soda… So your suggesting a toothpaste that 1. feeds bacteria, 2. contains acid and 3. is abrasive to the now acid-weakened tooth structure.
#4: Guess what can make most teeth stronger/harder, more resistant to that harmful acid? Fluoride. So important that after this property was discovered it was added to most cities drinking water at 1part/million. This and tooth sealants stand as the two greatest achievements of modern dentistry.
It is popular to give fluoride a bad wrap. Fluoride is just like any other vitamin/mineral we flock the the health food stores for- most could hurt us if we take too much. Most could be argued as bad- watch… “Potassium. Good right? Wrong. Potassium is the chemical used in lethal injections.” Potasium is not bad, just like fluoride is not bad, just bad in the wrong concentration, but necessary for good health in the right amounts.
5. Glycerine is added because cavities don’t happen if the bacteria can’t (literally) stick to the tooth surface. There are certain variations of one of the big types of cavities-causing bacteria. People who have the “sticky-type” are more prone to cavities (ever notice that you may take perfect care of your teeth, but your spouse doesn’t and you’re always the one with cavities? or visa versa? This is one of the several known reasons why.)
The only truly unnecessary additive to toothpaste is what makes it fizz/foam. We used to think the effervescence would bubble-out the bad stuff, like hydrogen peroxide, but is an irritant to a lot of people’s mucosa (mouth skin) and people who are sensitive should use a natural toothpaste or one without sodium lauryl sulfate.
So, if you really think this is just a conspiracy from dentists and the tooth-paste companies to hurt you so we can make money off of you, knock yourself out… Just don’t come sit in our chairs and blame us when the work we put into trying to reverse the damage you’ve done fails.
Just like any other profession, medicine is not perfect. However 99% of us took and practice by the oath we took to do our best to give our patients the highest quality and safest healthcare possible… even inspite of our patients thinking that they’ve solved some conspiracy or discovered some little-known truth about what we’ve dedicated our lives to. Ask your questions, but perhaps consider that the doctor sitting in front of you might know a little more about what’s good for you than a google-search.
Hi there— you make some great points, but your tone is truly abrasive. We love to hear both sides of any story and honor people for their points of view. I don’t think this is a conspiracy from dentists and toothpaste companies— I just personally think we need to be educated about the ingredients in products we use and then decide for ourselves if they are right for us. This simple and all-natural toothpaste is a great alternative to those who have issues with the ingredients discussed above.
You had some really useful information in your comment. I wanted to do a lot of research before I tried this recipe, because I’m allergic to… well, almost everything under the sun, and I prefer to make my own products so I know I won’t have an accidental reaction to them. Thank you for this important information.
However, you were rude, and it took physical effort to read this comment. I was actually personally offended by how rude you were to the woman who wrote this recipe. I know you want to make sure people understand the importance of dental care, but everybody reads the comments, and anybody on the fence about whether or not they want to do it, won’t even finish reading all the important information you posted- all because of your writing tone. Next time make your tone more neutrally informative. You’ll get your point across a lot better.
Your 3 rants comes across as a bit crazed and because of your high and mighty tone, I didn’t care one iota about what you posted. You must have missed naptime.
When the label on my toothpaste tell me to call “Poison Control” if a dime sized amount is consumed, you can tell me again how great it is for us. I’ll take my chances with the natural approach and be cavity and chemical free.
Poor Dear Dentist, I understand how frustrated you were. I am a scientist, ahem… actually a chemist (don’t shoot me – I’m nice, honest) and also someone who wants to be healthy and make good food and life choices. I work in the personal care industry as a formulator and I understand your rant and your frustration. I could go on like this about parabens (no, they aren’t bad, really), but this is not the place. Dear everyone else, if this dentist is anything like me, she or he may simply be upset watching people hurt themselves through ignorance. So, please do your research. This website is awesome, but it is everyone’s responsibility to be educated about your body and your needs. If you abdicate your responsibility, you will pay the price, eventually. We are all unique creatures and must find out best path to health and happiness. Good Luck Everyone. Love and Peace 🙂
I love the homemade toothpaste! It leaves a refreshing taste in your mouth. I had a friend try it and they also said it was good and have been using it. Great recipe!
Yeah! Glad to have more people join my world of coconut oil toothpaste. Thanks for letting me know that you like it too.
I am obsessed with coconut oil and am definitely going to make this…. the grapefruit extract idea sounds amazingly refreshing! Can’t wait. Thanks. 🙂
You’re welcome, Shea! 🙂
To buy essential oils that are safe to take internally, check out
http://www.mydoterra.com/naturesbestmedicine. My favorites are a blend called On Guard or peppermint essential oil.
Thanks for the tip, Janet!
I forgot to check off to notify me with an email. 🙂
🙂
I can’t wait to make this. Right now we use organic/natural toothpastes without fluoride and I happen to have these few ingredients at home. I can’t wait to try it. I am not a fan of eucalyptus but love grapefruit essential oil and so what else could I mix it with? I don’t like the peppermint essential oil either.
Just use grapefruit extract! No need to addd a second oil. 🙂 I’ve done just grapefruit and actually really liked it.
I’d like to try this without the essential oils and the stevia? Any opinions/comments on this? Thanks
Hey Tamla,
You can def leave out the stevia, it’s an optional ingredient. We include the EO in the ingredients because we recommend using one that has antibacterial properties. But if you really don’t want to use an essential oil, you can leave that out as well.
This is great, I have been doing lots of do it yourself things lately! I use baking soda too, never thought of adding oils to it. Will try.
I did baking soda for a while and it gets kinda boring. This toothpaste recipe definitely classes the ol’ baking soda toothpaste up a bit. 🙂 Enjoy Patrice!
Thank you SO much for this recipe….i used to use all natural toothpaste, but it was so expensive. I have also tried baking soda, but never thought of using coconut oil!! thanks!!
I hear ya Krystal— it can be so expensive. This way is more cost effective and so simple to make. Think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Noice, I like this recipe.
So glad you like it! 🙂
I ordered the essential oils and I have coconut oil so I am going to make the toothpaste and also try the homemade deodorant. I will let you know the results!
Yeah Beverly! Hope you enjoy both recipes— I am hooked on them! Can’t wait to hear the results for you. 🙂