DIY All-Natural Whitening + Remineralizing Toothpaste
DIY Oral Care DIY Skincare & Beauty Essential oils
I want to immediately address the elephant in the room before we go any further…
YES, this toothpaste is brown. And NO, it is not the loveliest looking.
But hey, we all know not to judge a book by its cover!
And those perfectly white toothpastes that you are comparing it to may look pretty, but they’re chock-full-o’-nasties.
This DIY toothpaste on the other hand contains ingredients that help both naturally whiten and remineralize teeth while not contributing to your body burden. What more could we really ask for?
DIY All-Natural Whitening + Remineralizing Toothpaste
Ingredients:
Makes roughly 4 oz of toothpaste
- 4 tbs coconut oil
- 3 tbs sesame oil
- 4 tsp bentonite clay
- 4 tsp calcium magnesium powder
- 3 tbs baking soda
- 15 drops TOTAL essential oils (choose from these 5 essential oils for healthy teeth and gums)
- 12 drops trace minerals
You’ll also need a small jar or squeezable silicone tube to store your toothpaste.
Directions:
- In a double boiler, melt the 4 tbs of coconut oil. Or… if you are like me and don’t have a double boiler, you can simply stick a jar in a pot filled with shallow water, set the burner on medium-low, and put the coconut oil in the jar for it to melt (be sure not to get water in the jar).
- After the coconut oil is melted, remove the jar from the pot, wipe the water off the bottom, and set it on the counter.
- Next, add all of the other ingredients using a plastic or wooden spoon since a metal spoon will negate the effects of the bentonite clay.
- Stir everything together. The consistency will be runny but uniform, but it will harden into a thicker paste once it cools.
- So pop the jar into the fridge to set, stirring every five minutes to keep everything uniform.
- After about 15 minutes, you should see it start to thicken.
And there you have it! Your very own all-natural whitening & remineralizing toothpaste!
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients:
Coconut oil
Coconut oil acts as the base for the toothpaste, keeping everything together. More importantly, the lauric acid in coconut oil is a natural antibacterial.
Sesame oil
Sesame oil also acts as the base for the toothpaste, helping to soften the paste since coconut oil can get pretty hard. This was important to me since I wanted to be able to squeeze my toothpaste rather than keep it in a jar. (If you don’t care about squeezability, you can simply replace the sesame oil with more coconut oil). Sesame oil is traditionally used for oil pulling (a practice I will cover more soon!) and also has antibacterial properties.
Bentonite clay
Bentonite clay is a staple in my house. This “healing clay” binds to and draws out impurities, helping to not only detox the mouth but also whiten teeth by removing stains. Bentonite clay is also high in calcium, magnesium, and silica which help remineralize teeth.
Calcium magnesium powder
Calcium and magnesium are critical for bone and teeth health. Calcium is obvious here, and magnesium is critical for calcium to be properly absorbed. This calcium magnesium powder contains the optimal balance of both.
Baking soda
Baking soda is alkaline, helps clean teeth and remove stains, and wards off bacteria.
Essential oils
After doing the research, I consider peppermint, cinnamon, spearmint, clove, and myrrh essential oils to be the top five essential oils for healthy teeth and gums (though I’m sure there are certainly more!).
Trace minerals
Trace minerals help restore and remineralize tooth enamel.
[Side note: I know this seems like a TON of ingredients but most of us already have coconut oil, sesame oil, and baking soda in our kitchens. Most also likely have at least peppermint EO, which can be used alone in the recipe if you’d like. If you don’t have bentonite clay, I suggest you get some ASAP since it’s so multipurpose and amazing (check out how I use it every day, week, and month). Trace minerals and calcium magnesium powder are both fantastic supplements so a great investment as well.]
When you use it for the first time…
The consistency and taste are certainly not what you are used to. I use more of this toothpaste than I would with a “normal” store-bought paste since it does not foam, probably about double. The coconut oil will melt rather quickly in your mouth since it has a melting point of 76º turning the paste into a thick liquid. Also it is definitely salty! I don’t mind, but you can add liquid stevia or xylitol if it does bother you (or if you are trying to get your kids to use it!).
P.S. Like my toothbrush?
It’s bamboo! As you know, I kinda sorta HATE plastic. And we sure do use a lot of toothbrushes, which (along with their plastic packaging) just end up in landfills.
These toothbrushes have bamboo handles and the packaging is completely biodegradable. In other words, they’re awesome.
Can I use activated charcoal in place of the clay? I know it has similar properties, but I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate in similar amounts, etc. Thanks!
Does anyone know if the Calcium Magnesium powder contains any animal ingredients?
Question: I need more details on the cal-mag please? The cal-mag hyperlinked in the directions as well as most of the cal-mag options in my local health store list Calcium Citrate and Magnesium Citrate as source of the Calcium and Magnesium. Isn’t the acidity of the citrates harmful to the teeth? I’ve read a lot about the harm that chewable vitamin C can cause to tooth enamel, so I am trying to understand how the acidity of Calcium and Magnesium are different than the acidity of the vitamin C… Sorry if the question is too basic – just trying to understand and educate myself. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated
The sesame seed oil is what’s brown! And the clay is usually grey-ish.
I have been using the natural whitening + remineralizing toothpaste, however, the paste does not turn brown as you have indicated (I have followed your directions for the ingredients meticulously). Among the ingredients which one turns the toothpaste brown–is there a particular brand name I need to buy?
Before I make the Natural toothpaste and the herbal mouthwash I want to ask you a few questions please.
I bought the OXYMIN CALM calcium magnesium powder which has aloe vera and trace minerlas in it. Is this ok to use in the mouthwash and toothpaste recipes…?
Also for the toothpaste recipe I couldn’t find any liquid trace minerals so I was wondering if it is ok to make the toothpaste without it or can I use something else instead of it..?
And instead of spearmint essential oil can use lavender oil?
And which is the best essential oil for inflamed gums?
Thank-you for answering my questions.
Ester.
I worry about lead in the clay. I have MTHFR so I don’t detoxify very well. I used Redmonds earthpaste and got sick. I think it might have been from the xylitol but not sure. I had severe abdominal pain, joint pain, intestinal swelling and retained fluid. I couldn’t close my hands. My teeth and gums were great. I have autoimmune diseases celiacs and hashimoto’s too.
That sounds like an interesting variation, Aline! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad you found this helpful 🙂
Hello, thank you so much for all your recipes. I made my own toothpaste today using your ingredients with some variations. I had bamboo powder instead of calcium powder and used oregano oil, clove and lime oil… that’s what i had available… I love my new toothpaste!!!! and its brown too. Who says it has to be white!! thank you so much for your contributions…
Aline Isabel
Dominican Republic
You could add a tiny bit of natural goat milk soap for forming purposes. I have been using it alone but I knew I needed some minerals as well. So I plan to use your recipe and add some goat milk as well. Probably a top. Check out bend soap company (google, also I’m not affiliated) the lotion is fantastic too.
Thanks for your awesome site!
It’s brown from the sesame oil.
I don’t know how she got hers to be brown. Bentonite clay IS gray.
Thank you so much Nadia for the great job! I have mercury filling in my teeth and I have been look for a certified dentist in my area to remove them safely. Any thoughts?
Hi,
Do you know if it would still work if I replace the bentonite clay with rasul?
Why use “Trace Minerals” in a bottle instead of diatomaceous earth?
Oops! Thank you, Valli 🙂
on the bodyunburdened.com site, your pop up call-to-action box would not allow me to enter my email address. I can’t remember the exact message but it included “There are errors…”
When I tried to enter my name and email address into the call to action just under the header I first got an error message telling me to enter my name (which I had already done.) I reentered it and the form accepted the info and registered me for your ebook.
I am a web designer and know it’s important to know when a form malfunctions…particularly the call-to-action form since that’s your marketing vehicle.
Good luck! You have a great site and you’re doing a great job with it!
…Valli
I tried this recipe and it worked great. It really does whiten your teeth!
I always surching for natural things I will try this thank you
I have heard that the citrate property in the calcium and magnesium powder can wear at the enamel. I thought that you were supposed to use the calcium carbonate version of calcium? Just curious if you did research on this so I will know if it’s OK to use the citrate version.