This all makes good sense to me except the lemon juice. I’ve always heard that lemon is especially harsh on teeth, as in “you better brush your teeth after eating a piece of lemon.” I would leave it out of the mouthwash, although it is only 2 drops.

While I do understand the desire for a mouthwash, rinsing with water, flossing, and brushing do a lot more for overall oral health. In fact, the drying effects of the alcohol can exacerbate existing problems.

4:1 by volume of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and a drop or two of peppermint or other flavoring oil makes a great toothpaste. Baking soda works as a gentle abrasive to scrub your teeth clean, the peppermint oil makes it taste good and leaves you with ‘minty fresh’ breath, and the peroxide helps whiten, while providing a bit of an effervescent quality to work things out from between teeth.

Not trying to be cynical about natural products, but many times, it’s just ignorance. When you switch, you need to know what the original purpose is as well as the mechanism for achieving that purpose.

I’m a materials engineer by trade, and in my line of work, I’ve seen some parts designed to fail, just to increase sales. So, when we get the part to analyze, not only do we improve the part so they fail less and have to replace less, but we sell it at a discount from the OEM/brand name as well.

I think about this stuff daily, so I’m quite skeptical about many natural replacement products, unless they have been well thought out.

That said, did you folks know that Tom’s Of Maine is now part of the Proctor and Gamble empire? A couple years ago, Tom and Kate “sold” the company to Colgate for $100 million, but still kept a 16% ownership state.

P&G wanted to have a larger presence in natural food stores,and said it was an easy jump for them to buy Tom’s of Maine as Tom’s is the #1 brand of natural toof-paste in America.

I’m not thrilled with Tom selling to Proctor & Gamble and reading P & G’s press release as to why they purchased Tom’s (all for profit, really nothing about how natural/organic choices may be better for all of us), I’m using the last of my Tom’s toof-paste that was a true money maker for me.
(The store paid me $1.50 to buy 5 tubes: a Tom’s clearance toof-paste + $1.00 off coupons + a $10 Longs gift card for the purchases).

My son recently told me about Tea Tree Therapy’s “Tea Tree Toof-paste with Baking Soda”. It’s incredible!

Tea tree oil is nature’s antiseptic. The tea tree oil cleans teeth, prevents tartar build-up and also keeps gums healthier. It truly keeps my mouth clean without having to buy mouthwash at all.

It’s pricey–usually about $6.45/5 oz tube, but if you stock up when it’s on sale and add coupons available from Tea Tree then it’s only about $2.99. (I got it for about $2.50 as my son works at a natural foods store which offers a 20% discount for employees and their families).

I’m switching to Tea Tree toof-paste after using Tom’s of Maine for more years than I can count. Just my 2 cents, but I didn’t know if many people know that Tom’s of Maine is no longer just “Tom and Kate”.
PS And yes, I know how most folks spell “toothpaste”, but when our kiddos were little, they always said: “toof-paste”.

I can’t imagine we want to kill off cells in our mouth to that extent. And the alcohol seems to work by making cells unable to replicate, so it would be more effective against quickly reproducing germs than skin cells (one hopes).

I will be following up to this post with some great non-alcohol alternatives as well as a review of natural products on the market.

Thanks for your comment.

Best,
Elena

Thank you for the site tip. These are great. I think I will be moving on from the alcohol recommendations. The more I research alternatives, the more I see there are much better options. I will follow-up with a thorough review of better option.

Thank you,
Elena

Most alcoholics I know never let their drinks sit for long, let alone “swish” it in their mouth to taste it, so if they get oral cancer…

Also, you’re killing the good bacteria along with the bad bacteria and drying out your mouth as well when you rinse with mouth wash.

Typically, if you brush and floss consistently, mouth wash won’t be necessary.

Man this post is fragmented.