I was away from home and experiencing an acid stomach. I decided I should probably have some antacids in my truck. I decided to stop at a drug store. It was one I’ve never been in before, so I had trouble finding the antacids. The big sign in aisle fourteen that said “Antacids” completely eluded me, so I had to ask. But in my wandering, I went through the dental care aisle and saw a brand of toothpaste I’ve never seen before. And it didn’t have sodium saccharine! Ehhxcellent.
The brand is called Natural Dentist. It has what I require in a toothpaste: it contains fluoride, and it has no saccharine. The flavor is peppermint, which I normally wouldn’t go for, but I really wanted to try this new brand. It actually tastes pretty good. It has sorbitol and xylitol, so it’s plenty sweet and foams nicely. “Foams nicely?” you ask? Some non-saccharine toothpastes don’t have enough foaming action and it feels like you’re brushing your teeth with flavored water. It’s quite unsatisfying. So it’s good that this Natural Dentist stuff foams.
I give Natural Dentist toothpaste a thumbs up. It will go in to my rotation along with Tom’s of Maine gel and Biotene. And my search for other toothpastes will continue.
I got a new toothpaste from the treehugger grocery store yesterday. It’s called Auromere. It has many claims on the box. One of them is that it’s saccharin free. Yay! That means I can use it.
I was a little nervous at first because it has neem tree extract in it. The only other time I’ve seen neem oil is as a natural insecticide in the garden. I’m using bug killer to brush my teeth? My other problem is that it’s fluoride free. I wouldn’t use this all the time, because it seems like fluoride works pretty well.
I am a little confused by its claim to be cruelty-free. Do other toothpaste companies make lab rabbits brush their teeth? What’s wrong with sharing that fresh, clean feeling with other species?
When I put the Auromere toothpaste on my toothbrush, I was a little disturbed by its color. It was brown. Aren’t there natural ways of artificially coloring stuff? Yikes! But I was pleasantly surprised when I brushed my teeth. It was minty and good-tasting. It also foamed up well, which has been the downfall of several of the other toothpastes I have tried.
I have kind of a strange taste in my mouth this morning, so I’ll have to use this toothpaste for a while longer before making a final judgment.
Happy Birthday to my niece Rachel! She’s sixteen! I got a card last week. It’s still on my desk at school.
I stopped at the grocery store yesterday because after school today we’re having a meeting that promises to be very long. We’re all bringing various salad ingredients to share so that we have something to sustain us. I got bean sprouts and ginger-sesame dressing.
At the grocery store, I decided to walk down the toothpaste aisle, just to give a look. They had all the usual offerings. But then I noticed various weird and medicinal-looking toothpastes. Among them was a box talking about dry mouth. Remembering the Tom’s of Maine box mentions xylitol as a moistener, I grabbed a box of this new toothpaste and read the ingredients. No sucralose or aspartame. It was sweetened with sorbitol and xylitol! Cool! I got a tube.
It is called Biotene. It has other claims on the box besides making your mouth feel not dry anymore. (Wouldn’t water fix that?) It says it has enzymes to help control bacteria. I used it last night. It was pretty good. Not as good as Tom’s, but pretty good. It had an interesting taste… it reminded me of how a dentist’s office smells. I will use it for a while and see how I like it…
When I started the toothpaste category on Bradaptation, I was searching for something that didn’t have saccharin, sucralose, or aspartame. It was a difficult task. But now that I’ve found a brand that works, I feel strangely empty. It used to be an adventure when I opened a new tube of toothpaste. Now it has become mundane.
Last night I opened a new tube of Tom’s of Maine Orange-Mango gel. It tastes great, is sweetened with xylitol, and leaves my mouth feeling fresh. But in spite of its wonderful burny-orange flavor, I’m not so excited about it.
I think I will begin a search for a new brand. Tom’s will be my first love and I will always have it in my rotation, but I want to find a new brand… a new formula…
My search resumes.
Well, I’m withdrawing myself from the “Who Can Use a Tube of Toothpaste Up First” contest. That just leaves Kiwe, Beth, and Lauren. I left my Tom’s Spearmint Gel at home. I started with a new tube of toothpaste because I was coming to Nebraska and wasn’t sure if I could procure a tube of Tom’s of Maine Gel here.
I got Cinnamon-Clove Gel. I have to say, the Tom’s Gel is where it’s at. I haven’t experienced a bad flavor yet. I look forward to trying many other gel flavors in the future. For now, though, it’s my first love: Cinnamon-Clove. Yum!
