Best tooth powder recipes?

We have threads on:
toothpaste alternatives
and
toothpastes which started from a frugality perspective.

In both, many folks shared their favorite toothpowder brand or toothpowder recipes. Did I miss a permies.com thread just for tooth powders?

So here is a thread for that! I've been making my own for the last year or so but would love to have some discussion about optimization.

So far I have learned that liquid, alcohol based stevia is *not* a good addition to tooth powder (my gums got inflamed from it and still haven't recovered!) and that a little salt goes a LONG way, especially when your base is baking soda which is already salty in a sense.

There are debates on whether baking soda is too abrasive or harsh or whether it is FAR less abrasive than most toothpastes and is wonderful for it's pH effect.

Others debate whether to use much, if any essential oils in the mouth.

One addition I tried today was dried self-heal (leaves and flowers) whizzed into a powder and added in to my normal mix, in an attempt to help with one little sore/receded spot that hasn't recovered from the liquid stevia.

Has anyone tried self-heal in their tooth care or tooth powders and how did it work for you?



What are your best tooth powder recipes?

Edited to add a lovely picture of self-heal from Collecting Self Heal / Heal All

There was another one, much more recently started. I posted my recipe to it...hmmm... I'll see if I can find it, again.

Here's one: https://permies.com/t/111479/personal-care/purity/homemade-toothpaste-recipe

I haven't tried self-heal. But after reading about how comfrey root can help regrow teeth, I started using that in my tooth powder.

I don't really measure when mixing tooth powder, but I made this batch with roughly 1 part baking soda to 4 parts powdered comfrey root, then added about 1/4 tsp ground cloves. The entire batch fits in a small pill bottle. There might be better recipes out there, but I like winging it.

After using this for a week, I've already noticed my teeth are a lot less sensitive to cold or sweets.

(Try not to swallow any, especially if you have liver trouble. And be aware that comfrey powder turns mucilaginous when mixed with water, so try to clean up any spills right away.)

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:I haven't tried self-heal. But after reading about how comfrey root can help regrow teeth, I started using that in my tooth powder.

I don't really measure when mixing tooth powder, but I made this batch with roughly 1 part baking soda to 4 parts powdered comfrey root, then added about 1/4 tsp ground cloves. The entire batch fits in a small pill bottle. There might be better recipes out there, but I like winging it.

After using this for a week, I've already noticed my teeth are a lot less sensitive to cold or sweets.

(Try not to swallow any, especially if you have liver trouble. And be aware that comfrey powder turns mucilaginous when mixed with water, so try to clean up any spills right away.)

This is interesting.  Can you tell me where you found this info regarding comfrey root?  I've been making my own toothpowder for many years, but never used comfrey root.  I just 'wing it' too.

Bonnie

Bonnie Kuhlman wrote:

This is interesting.  Can you tell me where you found this info regarding comfrey root?

It started with seeing something about it mentioned on an herbal medicine forum. While investigating the claim, I found lots of articles like this and this.

I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to try, even though I'm not following the instructions in the articles. Tooth powder works into my routines better than swishing for 20 minutes. And given that any eggshells I try to save have to be fished out of the garbage disposer first, there's no way I'm eating those! So I tried it my own way, and it seems to be working so far.

I make a lot of comfrey oil, and also use it for poultices, bone and tissue injury.  I've never seen it in a remineralizing/tooth powder formula, but that makes sense.  Thanks for sharing.

Bonnie