Homemade toothpaste costs €1.08 per tube, advocates claim

Homemade toothpaste: €1.08 per tube, according to its proponents

Can you maintain healthy teeth without paying four euros for a tube of commercial paste? The recipe circulating among those who have stopped buying supermarket toothpaste relies on five ingredients: white clay, sage, thyme, stevia, and drops of essential peppermint oil. The result is a paste-like mixture stored in the fridge that, according to calculations accompanying the recipe, lasts for months. The cost per equivalent tube: €1.08.

The reasonable doubt isn't about cost. It's whether this mixture cleans, disinfects, and protects enamel as effectively as commercial toothpaste. This sparks a debate running through the conversation: natural product advocates versus those who remind us that advanced double cavities cost €125 at the dentist.

What’s in homemade toothpaste and what each ingredient does

The original recipe involves a three-minute decoction of sage, thyme, and stevia. It is filtered, sea salt is added until dissolved, and mixed with white clay. Essential peppermint oil is added at the end, just a few drops, for flavor. The justification for each component rests on known properties: white clay acts as a base and is attributed anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects; sage is presented as a potent antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral agent, effective against oral mucosa inflammation; thyme provides antibacterial activity and combats halitosis; stevia sweetens.

The economic breakdown accompanying the recipe is the most striking part. One kilo of white clay costs €5 and yields thirteen 75-gram tubes: €0.38 per unit. One hundred grams of sage leaves, €3.76, divided by at least twenty: €0.19. Thyme and stevia, similar amounts. Essential peppermint oil, €5.20 for 15 milliliters, used in about forty batches: €0.13. Final sum, €1.08 per equivalent tube. The conclusion drawn is obvious: commercial pastes are expensive.

Why would teeth fall out with homemade paste?

The objection came quickly and bluntly: toothpaste must eliminate bacteria, clean tartar, and neutralize acids and sugars. Does a mix of plants and clay do that? The skeptical answer is that there is no evidence it works as effectively as fluoride toothpaste. Supporters argue we also don't know what's in commercial pastes beyond what is advertised.

Here enters fluoride, the great absence from the recipe and the main protagonist of the final discussion. Some claim fluoride is little short of poison and should be banned; it is even stated that Spain's water is fluoridated, a claim not backed by any source. Against this, the majority practical position is more prosaic: use fluoride-free paste if preferred, but don't abandon brushing, flossing, and check-ups. Fluoride-free Paradontax paste is cited at €3.95 as a commercial alternative to the homemade recipe.

Baking soda, coconut oil, and the water flosser trend

For those who don't want to complicate things with decoctions, the recurring low-cost formula is baking soda plus coconut oil. Mix, stir, done. Baking soda raises mouth pH and inhibits bacterial growth, though it is warned to be abrasive to enamel and one shouldn't scrub hard. Some have brushed only with baking soda for five years and claim no enamel wear. It's a testimonial, not a study.

The other big addition to home equipment is the water flosser. It cleans gaps where brushes can't reach but doesn't replace brushing. There are tap-connected models, cheaper and without electricity consumption, and electric ones, with higher pressure. The combination defended as ideal: electric brush once a day, manual the rest, water flosser for rinsing, and dental floss. And an accessory enthusiastically recommended: the tongue scraper, made of copper, costing €8 or €9 for a pair, more effective than a brush for cleaning the tongue, a common source of bad breath.

The business behind toothpaste

The underlying suspicion looms over the entire conversation: if commercial pastes were so effective, why are there so many cavities and dental clinics? The argument used is that store brands are all the same, changing only flavor and tonalidad, and price guarantees nothing. An analysis is cited ranking Lacer as the worst paste on the market due to high fluoride content and impractical packaging. In contrast, Mercadona's store brand fares well and costs half as much as Colgate.

The counterpoint comes from personal experience: those who switched to fluoride-free paste describe the taste as torture and miss brushing. Not everything is ideology. Some alternate: homemade or organic paste after breakfast and lunch, and a trusted commercial one after dinner. A compromise solution that, given the circumstances, might be the wisest of the lot.

In the end, the lingering question isn't which is the best toothpaste. It's how much of the war against fluoride is science and how much is distrust of the usual tube.