Fluoride Free Toothpaste Benefits: What Are They?

It seems that 2020 is the year that everyone is taking their “clean living” initiatives to the next level.

While many of us have felt helpless in combating the current global pandemic, we have taken it upon ourselves to control the controllable—and that includes making more of a conscious effort to use products that are organic and chemical-free.

When examining our habits and lifestyle choices, one thing that we consistently do on a daily basis is look after our oral hygiene. We brush our teeth every day—even twice per day—and do it for years on end. Considering you use toothpaste two times a day, it is important to know that what you put in your mouth is actually good for you, and we are here to help.

This is where natural, chemical free toothpastes come into the conversation. Our oral hygiene is super important to us, and fluoride free toothpaste provides a natural alternative to ensuring your teeth stay clean and protected.

While all of us want to use products that are natural and good for the planet, it is equally important to ensure that the oral hygiene products we use actually do their job and keep our teeth and gums healthy. And on top of that, we want to be making decisions to use products that reduce our oral hygiene waste and eliminate bad breath.

To really understand if fluoride-free toothpaste is the best option for you, we are going to explain the pro’s and con’s of both types of toothpaste so you have all the facts before making this very important decision!

Fluoride Toothpaste 

What is fluoride anyway? Well, it is commonly used in a range of oral hygiene products like toothpaste and mouthwash, with the main goal being to help prevent your teeth from rotting away. In fact, many places around the world add fluoride to public drinking water as it enhances the healthiness of the water and the oral hygiene of people who drink it.

Fluoride is proactive in fighting against tooth decay because it is able to make the acids in your mouth less harmful while equally strengthening the enamel on your teeth. While it is a chemical, it is still natural and found in both our water and air.

There is a reason that so many dentists encourage patients to get enough fluoride per day—whether that be from their toothpaste, drinking water, or mouthwash. That is because the average person needs an extra boost of protection for their teeth and fluoride is a straightforward way to do so.

The pros of using fluoride toothpaste include: 

• Fluoride acts like calcium and strengthens your teeth—which are a very important bone in your body. The stronger teeth you have, the better.

• Those that have braces or crowns on their teeth will automatically struggle to ensure their teeth remain pristine, so fluoride toothpaste goes a long way in ensuring that their teeth do not suffer any additional damage—think of it as the back-up plan.

• Fluoride helps reduce your risk of developing plaque or cavities, which ultimately elevates your overall oral hygiene.

The cons of using fluoride toothpaste include:

• Fluoride toothpaste can pose a threat to children, which is a concern to many parents. While the intentions of it are good, too much fluoride for children can lead to having a reverse effect of creating brittle and weak teeth. That is why children three and under are not permitted to use toothpaste with fluoride, and those six and under should use a minimal amount only.

• A range of people suffer from fluoride allergies known as fluorosis, which can have significant impacts on your health, regardless of your age.

• Ingesting fluoride toothpaste can be extremely dangerous, and poison control needs to be contacted if too much is swallowed by any person of any age—that is why these types of toothpaste have warning labels on them.

Fluoride-Free Toothpaste 

While fluoride toothpaste has been the mainstream choice for many to include in their oral hygiene routine, fluoride-free toothpaste is making a quick rise to the top, and we pride ourselves in leading the way. This is for a range of factors that include our eco-friendly practices,  all-natural ingredients, and the good feeling you get when you know you are also thinking of the planet in your consumer decisions.

Now, we aren’t saying that all fluoride toothpaste is bad for you. In fact, many people benefit from it. But fluoride-free toothpaste provides an option to put natural ingredients in your mouth that can get the job done without the risks of long-term fluoride exposure, like fluorosis. 

It is also important to mention that just because a toothpaste says it is fluoride-free does not mean it is made of the same ingredients that another fluoride-free toothpaste is made of. Make sure to do your research and understand the ingredients used and the benefits they provide to your oral hygiene.

Pros of fluoride-free toothpaste: 

• Natural ingredients are often used in fluoride-free toothpaste, meaning that there are no chemicals that are included. For example, our toothpaste uses a natural sweetener known as xylitol to provide both a pleasant taste and anti-plaque action at the same time!

• Fluoride-free toothpaste with the right ingredients is found to be extremely effective at cleaning your teeth and removing unwanted plaque or build-up on your teeth

• It is a great solution for those who are concerned with the amount of fluoride they are exposed to on a daily basis. Especially if you live in an area where your city already adds fluoride to the drinking water, consuming too much fluoride can turn into a bad thing. This is a solution to ensure your overall fluoride intake is well-balanced.

• Fluoride-free toothpaste tends to be more eco-friendly. This means that there is not only more effort to use natural ingredients, but there is generally more thought into ensuring the overall toothpaste tube and packaging are also eco-friendly as well.

• There is not the simulation of calcium in the fluoride-free toothpaste, unlike what the ones fluoride provides. However, this can be combated with ensuring that you are getting enough Vitamin D and calcium in your normal diet, which will still expose your teeth to the calcium it needs to stay strong; alternatively, added ingredients like the coral calcium in our toothpaste has trace minerals to help support your teeth!

• The lack of fluoride in your toothpaste means that your tooth enamel will not be strengthened from your toothpaste, so you may need to look at alternative solutions to ensure your enamel remains strong if this is an area you tend to normally struggle with; however, this can be compensated for by including enamel-strengthening ingredients like xylitol (like we do!)

• Because fluoride-free toothpaste is not as mainstream as the stock-standard fluoride options you can find in every pharmacy or grocery store, there is sometimes a little less availability. This means that you can’t just go to any store and get your fluoride-free brand. Instead, you may need to order online and do a little bit of extra research on where to find your specific tube of toothpaste. Luckily, we’ve made it easy to order a variety of different all-natural oral hygiene bundles, plus you can even set up a subscription so you never run out!

Which one should you choose? 

There are obvious pros and cons to using both fluoride toothpaste and fluoride-free toothpaste. While fluoride toothpaste has been shown to reduce the risk of cavities, so has fluoride-free toothpaste! And while fluoride gets a bad rap for being a chemical, it is actually a natural chemical that is found in numerous places in our environment. But the other ingredients used in these toothpastes are not all-natural, many are artificial--so even if fluoride inherently isn’t terrible, the other ingredients in most fluoride toothpastes aren’t any good!

However, while there are so many benefits to using fluoride toothpaste, we recommend trying all-natural fluoride-free toothpaste. That is because you can feel confident that you are only putting natural ingredients in your mouth and do not risk overexposure to fluoride. Our natural fluoride-free toothpaste is designed to still be able to keep the plaque off your teeth, protect against cavities, and even has ingredients that serve as anti-inflammatories that are gentle enough for sensitive teeth!

But regardless of the toothpaste you choose to use, fluoride-free toothpaste is not the only component of your oral hygiene routine that will make a difference with the health of your teeth. It is a small part of the overall habits of brushing your teeth with a quality toothbrush, never neglecting to floss your teeth, rinsing your mouth out with mouthwash, and practicing good hygiene methods in general. 

In the end, we believe that you should have the right to choose the toothpaste that is best for you. Whether it is our own fluoride-free one or not is up to you and your dentist to decide. Just remember that there are both pro’s and con’s to consider, along with taking into account your own oral hygiene, your lifestyle, and the environmental goals that are important to you!

Sources:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/body/fluoride-free-toothpaste-now-thing-actually-good-teeth/

https://www.healthyoptions.com.ph/blog/fluoride-free-oral-care-pros-and-cons

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/water-fluoridation-and-cancer-risk.html