Is Baking Soda a Good Alternative Toothpaste?

Oral hygiene is an important factor to our health that we should be aware and work to maintain. For many people who are learning about more natural ways of eating, living and treating our body’s, using the typical toothpaste brands that contains fluoride quickly becomes a non option. For me, I transitioned from toothpaste with fluoride to fluoride free toothpaste. From there I made my way to brushing with baking soda.

What’s wrong with regular toothpaste?

When it comes to regular toothpaste, there are better and safer alternatives. If you read the tube or box your toothpaste comes in, you will notice a warning stating that if you swallow the toothpaste, you should call poison control. Reason being is toothpaste contains several potentially dangerous chemicals, one of these is called fluoride. Although fluoride has been shown to potentially achieve results in re-strengthening enamel, it is also a toxic substance linked to many health problems. The reason why fluoride is not recommended is because the majority of the time it is used in toothpaste and at the dentist, too much is being applied and therefore it is doing more harm than good. With there being many much more effective and safer alternatives, using fluoride is not a healthy choice. Using too much fluoride can make the teeth too brittle and therefore more susceptible to cavities and dental fluorosis. Considering that 1 in 3 children in the US now have dental fluorosis, we are clearly using too much fluoride. Toothpastes include ingredients like polyethylene glycols, triclosan, strontium, benzene, and tin which are all potentially harmful to human health. Toothpaste contains high levels of glycerin. When there are high levels of glycerin left on our teeth, it takes quite a long time before it wears off and our enamel can properly strengthen again. This leaves teeth susceptible to cavities. Finally, toothpaste does not contain many natural ingredients. This of course is your choice as to whether or not you want to stick to products that are as natural as possible. You can read more about fluoride here.

Is baking soda a good option?

I first came across the idea of using baking soda when doing fluoride research for a short documentary I made called Fluoride: The Hard to Swallow Truth. I made the change over from fluoride free toothpaste to baking soda and was very happy with the results. Then I began hearing about the potential of baking soda being too abrasive for teeth and gums and that it could actually wear away at the enamel. So I began to research this to find out whether this was a good option for me, especially since I was recommending it to other people as well. I found that YES, baking soda is a good option; here’s why.

Understanding abrasivity

When a toothpaste is produced it must get FDA approval before it can be sold to the public. One of the tests that is conducted before its approval is to determine its RDA value (radioactive dentin abrasion or relative dentin abrasivity). To determine the RDA value of toothpaste, the lab tester begins with an extracted human or cow tooth. The tooth is irradiated in a neutron flux, mounted in methylmethacrylate (bone glue), stripped of its enamel, inserted into a brushing-machine, and brushed by ADA standards (reference toothbrush, 150g pressure, 1500 strokes, 4-to-1 water-toothpaste slurry). The radioactivity of the rinsewater is then measured and recorded. For experimental control, the test is repeated with an ADA reference toothpaste made of calcium pryophosphate, with this measurement given a value of 100 to calibrate the relative scale. (2)

The following are the RDA levels for popular toothpastes including baking soda which was also tested.

RDA	Dentifrice brand and variety	Source
07	straight baking soda	Church & Dwight
08	Arm & Hammer Tooth Powder	Church & Dwight
30	Elmex Sensitive Plus	Elmex
35	Arm & Hammer Dental Care	Church & Dwight
42	Arm & Hammer Advance White Baking Soda Peroxide	Church & Dwight
44	Squigle Enamel Saver	Squigle
48	Arm & Hammer Dental Care Sensitive	Church & Dwight
49	Arm & Hammer Peroxicare Tartar Control	Church & Dwight
49	Tom’s of Maine Sensitive (given as 40′s)	Tom’s
52	Arm & Hammer Peroxicare Regular	Church & Dwight
53	Rembrandt Original (RDA)	Rembrandt
54	Arm & Hammer Dental Care PM Bold Mint	Church & Dwight
57	Tom’s of Maine Children’s, Wintermint (given as mid-50′s)	Tom’s
62	Supersmile	Supersmile
63	Rembrandt Mint (‘Heffernan RDA’)	Rembrandt
68	Colgate Regular	Colgate-Palmolive
70	Colgate Total	Colgate-Palmolive
70	Arm & Hammer Advance White Sensitive	Church & Dwight
70	Colgate 2-in-1 Fresh Mint (given as 50-70)	Colgate-Palmolive
79	Sensodyne	Colgate-Palmolive
80	AIM	Unilever
80	Close-Up	Unilever
83	Colgate Sensitive Maximum Strength	Colgate-Palmolive
91	Aquafresh Sensitive	Colgate-Palmolive
93	Tom’s of Maine Regular (given as high 80′s low 90′s)	Squigle (Tom’s)
94	Rembrandt Plus	Rembrandt
94	Plus White	Indiana study
95	Crest Regular (possibly 99)	P&G (P&G)
101	Natural White	Indiana study
103	Mentadent	Squigle
103	Arm & Hammer Sensation	Church & Dwight
104	Sensodyne Extra Whitening	Colgate-Palmolive
106	Colgate Platinum	Indiana study
106	Arm & Hammer Advance White Paste	Church & Dwight
107	Crest Sensitivity Protection	Colgate-Palmolive
110	Colgate Herbal	Colgate-Palmolive
110	Amway Glister (given as upper bound)	Patent US06174515
113	Aquafresh Whitening	Indiana study
117	Arm & Hammer Advance White Gel	Church & Dwight
117	Arm & Hammer Sensation Tartar Control	Church & Dwight
120	Close-Up with Baking Soda (canadian)	Unilever
124	Colgate Whitening	Indiana study
130	Crest Extra Whitening	Indiana study
133	Ultra brite (or 120-140)	Indiana study (or Colgate-Palmolive)
144	Crest MultiCare Whitening	P&G
145	Ultra brite Advanced Whitening Formula	P&G
145	Colgate Baking Sode & Peroxide Whitening (given as 135-145)	Colgate-Palmolive
150	Pepsodent (given as upper bound)	Unilever
165	Colgate Tartar Control (given as 155-165)	Colgate-Palmolive
168	Arm & Hammer Dental Care PM Fresh Mint	Church & Dwight
200	Colgate 2-in-1 Tartar Control/Whitening or Icy Blast/Whitening (given as 190-200)	Colgate-Palmolive
200	recommended limit	FDA
250	recommended limit	ADA

As we observe in the chart, baking soda, when used correctly, is actually less abrasive than all toothpastes. Given the unnatural nature of toothpaste and the efficacy of baking soda when it comes to keeping teeth clean and the mouth at a good Ph level, using baking soda to brush your teeth is actually more favorable than natural toothpastes.

How to brush with baking soda

Brushing with baking soda is quite simple. First start with a fresh toothbrush that does not contain any of the left over residues from your toothpaste.
1. Take a pinch of baking soda and put it into a small glass or small bowl.
2. Add a small amount of pure water (ideally not tap water) to the bowl and mix it into the baking soda. The solution should be slightly runny as you don’t want too many of the granules present. Dip your toothbrush in to get some of the solution on the brush.
3. Brush starting with your molars and then moving to the facings and backs of your teeth.
4. (optional) Once done, you can add some more water to the glass or bowl and swish it around your mouth. This will help keep your mouth alkaline.
5. Rinse out your mouth with pure water as you normally would after brushing.

Try this out for yourself and share your thoughts on how this works for you. Remember, if you have learned that baking soda is too abrasive, it may misguided information or people may have been incorrectly using baking soda to brush. As always, feel it out for yourself and make adjustments accordingly.

Sources

(2) http://satyen.com/toothpastes.shtml

http://www.healingteethnaturally.com/dental-systemic-health-hazards-toothpaste.html

http://www.bewellbuzz.com/general/flouride-dangers-toothpaste/

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/07/11/is-baking-soda-a-good-alternative-toothpaste/