Who doesn't want a radiant smile! Besides, good, healthy and strong teeth are important. It prevents a lot of trouble. That is why you want to take good care of your teeth. And if possible, you do so in an environmentally friendly way. But how do you do that? And can you do it at all? We dove into the science of eco-friendly oral care. Spoiler alert: the most eco-friendly choice is not in sustainable products.
Healthy oral care
Oral care is important for a radiant smile. And a radiant smile is, of course, a nice entrance. But also to prevent ailments and health problems, good dental care is at least as important. Bad breath, tooth decay or inflammation... don't even think about it. But did you know that optimal condition of teeth and gums is also crucial for the rest of your body? Researchers have shown a link between infections, mainly of your gums, and disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and even the development of Alzheimer's. In fact, your saliva is an important link in your immune system. Taking good care of your teeth is vital, we can therefore say.
Sustainable oral care
The average drugstore has a wide range of oral care products; from toothbrush and toothpaste to dental floss, toothpicks and mouthwash. Among these, you can find more and more green oral care products to take good care of the environment as well as your teeth. We can choose from recycled plastic and bamboo toothbrushes. There is floss made of silk (recyclable) or vegan (made of plastic). There are FSC-certified toothpicks, plastic-free brushes and natural mouthwash. In short, there is so much! You soon can't see the wood for the trees. So which is the best choice for sustainable oral care? Don't panic, thegreenlist.nl gives you back! We got to the bottom of it for you, as you've come to expect from us. A spoiler alert; what you choose turns out to be less important. What matters most is your oral care behaviour!
Conclusion: eco-friendly oral care do it yourself!
What are the most sustainable products for eco-friendly oral care? I went looking and found a relatively simple but surprising answer. You see, choosing a sustainable product in the drugstore, actually does not determine your environmental footprint. Huh, it doesn't! Nope, your own brushing behaviour determines how eco-friendly you are. All those products (even the cheap private brands) have a relatively small impact on the environment.
For your health, your wallet and for the environment is good, regular dental care most importantly. Your mother and your dentist were right! (Of course!) Brush at least twice a day for at least two minutes, because with good dental care you will avoid expensive and environmentally unfriendly treatments at the dentist. And above all, don't forget your periodic check-ups at the dentist; at least once a year, although some dentists advocate twice a year. It is precisely those (extra) dental treatments and dental adjustments that burden the environment, because they involve a lot of energy, raw materials and chemicals. So in case of complaints, sound the alarm immediately and don't stick around. Because by preventing dental problems, you make the most sustainable choice!
It is not with the choice of your products, but with how well you take care of your teeth and whether you visit the dentist periodically that you make the difference. Because the real hit (in a negative sense then) is when you have to have a major procedure done and you can prevent that with good oral care.
Oral care products you can choose greener
Good; we've had the most important thing now. You are going to do your utmost to keep your teeth at their best. Check! But which products are you actually using? And could it be a step greener? To care for your mouth, gums and teeth, you can use more (smaller) environmental choices make. We go through them all with you.
Plastic toothbrush or not?
We all grew up with a plastic toothbrush. But in recent years, plastic has gotten a rather bad name. Banning plastic from your life sounds like an eco-friendly choice to many people. But in a study published in British Dental Journal researchers showed that a plastic toothbrush with a replaceable toothbrush head is the most eco-friendly choice when looking at its entire lifespan (including disposal) and impact on the environment. For those who still prefer not to use plastic, the bamboo toothbrush came out of the study as the second most eco-friendly choice. The electric toothbrush has the biggest impact on the environment of all, because of the materials in the product (many raw materials, it is an electric device after all), the energy consumption and the (electronic) waste it generates.
Electric toothbrush
Most dentists and dental hygienists recommend an electric toothbrush to keep your teeth and gums in good condition. And by now we know that such care at home is the most sustainable thing you can do. A split! Tip from thegreenlist.nl; try buying your electric toothbrush second-hand via Marktplaats. By that, of course, we don't mean a used cup, but rather the device! You should know how many new (!) electric toothbrushes you find there, especially after the holidays. Apparently, a lot of people get an electric toothbrush as a gift that they don't want at all. In case you can't find it second-hand, we have another tip for a more durable electric toothbrush: Smyle's e-brush. Bonus tip: unplug the toothbrush when it is charged, otherwise it will continue to use power. And if it breaks down, you can hand it in at a Wecycle point in the supermarket. There you will find special recycling bins for small appliances.
Choosing durable toothpaste
As with food and other personal care products, the same goes for toothpaste: don't use more than you need. A pea-sized amount of toothpaste is really enough to clean your teeth properly! Do you use a tube? Then don't forget to cut off the top of the tube to use your toothpaste to the last drop. As it turns out, we throw away five to as much as 20 per cent of toothpaste, which is, of course, a huge waste. Are you now thinking: plastic tubes of toothpaste are hugely unsustainable anyway? So it turns out otherwise.
The focus on the packaging is actually heartbreakingly misleading. Research shows that toothpaste ingredients have more of an environmental impact and also play a major role in the health of your teeth. For instance, toothpaste tablets actually turn out to be less environmentally friendly than toothpaste in a plastic tube. Indeed, both toothpaste and toothpaste tablets can contain the same pleasant and unpleasant ingredients. I will come to this in a moment. What I mean by this is that the shape and packaging says nothing about the content and environmental impact. Wow, I didn't see that one coming. And I kept buying the paper bags with tablets because I thought they were better anyway.
What ingredients do you need for healthy teeth?
So I'm going back to the drawing board! With apps like INCI beauty or Think Dirty app, I have to go back to looking at which products have the best ingredients for the environment and my health. What's important: toothpaste or tablets should definitely contain fluoride. Although there is quite a bit of disagreement online about the usefulness and healthy addition of fluoride in toothpaste, let comparative scientific literature review see that fluoride in toothpaste is safe to use and also effectively prevents tooth decay. Dentists and dental hygienists therefore do not recommend the presence of fluoride in your toothpaste product for nothing. And remember: keeping healthy teeth ensures environmental benefits!
Finally, don't forget to check for microplastics in your product with the Beat the Microbead app from Plastic Soup Foundation. That is precisely an ingredient you don't want in it. Many toothpastes still contain microplastics. These microplastics have no added value. They only make it spreadable. Moreover, they are not filtered by sewage treatment and therefore end up in surface water and the sea. Incredibly harmful to the environment and possibly our health. And you don't need them at all, as there are plenty of products without microplastics on sale these days.
OK, what is a good sustainable tip: don't use too much toothpaste. A toothpaste ball the size of a pea is enough. More is not necessary, that's just wasteful!
Other eco-friendly oral care
Your oral care doesn't stop with your toothbrush and toothpaste. There's also a lot to be gained with the details. First, and often forgotten, it is important to use as little water as possible when brushing your teeth. Do not leave the tap running when brushing and rinse sparingly. After all, leaving the tap running for two minutes means wasting about 10 litres of water! And definitely don't brush your teeth in the shower, because that way you use up to twenty litres of drinking water in two minutes. Turn off the tap as this is the most environmentally friendly way to brush! Dentists also recommend using toothpicks, brushes and floss. Again, don't stare blindly at the plastic packaging! Single-use plastic is often lighter and has a smaller environmental footprint than paper and altogether than glass, as recycling glass takes an awful lot of energy. Do you still use toothpaste packaged in glass? Then make sure you dispose of it in the right bin after use. The most important choice with these products is to use them sparingly. Use toothpicks and brushes more than once (and rinse well) and don't waste (too) long pieces of dental floss. That way, you keep your teeth and gums clean and your teeth healthy, think about the environment and your wallet. Win-win-win!
Here's how to choose eco-friendly oral care
When choosing eco-friendly oral care, your own behaviour turns out to be the most important. Taking good care of your teeth keeps your mouth healthy. By avoiding environmentally unfriendly treatments and dental adjustments, you make the biggest environmental gain. In addition, opting for plastic-free oral care seems the most sustainable. However, research shows this is not the case. Brushing with a manual toothbrush with replaceable head and regular toothpaste with good ingredients appears to be the most environmentally friendly.
More sustainable care tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Looking for children's toothpaste? Previously, Mascha's three sons tested children's toothpaste.
- Are you already familiar with ReBloom? This is sustainable toothpaste, with fluoride, from the Netherlands.
- Going sustainable with your personal care products? Check out the best storage tips here so you don't have to throw anything away.
- Choosing sustainable health insurance? We found out for you what to look out for.
Sources: Milieu Centraal on environmentally friendly packaging choices, Dental Clinics On sustainability and oral care, Dentist.nl On sustainable oral care at home, Article: Research Gate. Photo credits: main image: Sarah Chai (Pexels), dentist chair: Atikah Akhtar (Unsplash), woman brushing teeth: Andrea Piacquadio (Pexels), mug of toothbrushes: Towfiqu Barbhuiya (Unsplash), electric and plastic toothbrushes: Henrik Lagercrantz (Unsplash), bamboo toothbrush with toothpaste tablet: Sarah Chai (Pexels), plastic toothbrush with toothpaste: Joshua Hoehne (Unsplash).
