Hippy mum alert - I'm very aware of beauty and hair care ingredients and really do care about what goes into the products I use because ultimately what goes into them will go into me. I became even more aware of these after having children when the realisation hit that I could have been steeping my children in a bath of carcinogenic ingredients *eek* While I realise that these ingredients won't cause major issues straight away I didn't want to leave it to chance and have my sons deal with the repercussions of these products years down the line - to me they're pure little dudes and I do feel it's my duty to protect them as best as I can if that means spending more on products that are better for them then so be it. When it comes to your health and your children I think it's absolutely allowed for the parents to be a bit cray-cray.
So... that leads me to dental health. Without causing too much of a debate because I know it's a hot-topic I do purchase fluoride-free toothpaste, we do use a Brita filter to get rid of any nasties from the tap water and if I could afford it I would absolutely get a fluoride filter. I also decline the fluoride brush-on treatments that are offered to younger school children - the reason why? well, I make sure my children's teeth are cared for so they do not need to rely on the addition of chemically reproduced fluoride chemicals, after all, it's in our water, food, toothpaste, air, dental treatments and it cannot be governed as such. There's no way to tell how much each child or adult for that matter is getting in a day but I can hedge a guess that it's way above the recommended daily allowance of...
Babies | O-6 months - 0.01 milligrams & 7-12 months - 0.5 mg per day.
Children | 1-3 years - 0.7 mg, 4-8 years 1.0 mg & 9-13 years 2.0 mg per day.
Teens | 14-18 years 3.0 mg per day
Adults | 18 years and over 4.0 mg per day.
There is around 1.5 mg of fluoride in a litre of water (estimation, of course, it may be slightly higher depending on rain, build up, etc or less depending on the area, etc). If you were to drink your daily allowance (2 litres) that's a teenager already at their recommendation without factoring in toothpaste, mouthwash, foods, medications, etc. It's easy to see how most will be taking in far more than what's acceptable and causing untoward unnecessary side effects down the line. Fluoride to treat cavities? why not just brush and care for your teeth adequately taking into account your diet and health? If you're overly worried about teeth and bone health for your child you can add flavour free Vitamin D drops to your child's drink without the possibility of causing any further issues down the line.
While looking for new toothpaste brands to try I came across these environmental toothbrushes and thought they'd be great to try out. These are akin to using natural bristled, soft hairbrushes in comparison to using hard factory reproduced plastic hairbrushes, chances are if you had the money you'd go for the brush that was going to do the job but not one that damages your sensitive and easy to damage hair, right?
Most toothbrush bristles are made with nylon which can scratch and damage the enamel especially if you're a hard brusher and the plastics they're made from can cause BPA (more on that here). Natural toothbrushes such as this Environmental Toothbrush are made from bamboo which is a natural cellulose fibre, the bristles are soft but they really get into all the nooks and brush away any build-up or stains on the teeth.
First use I had to wash this as it tasted somewhat fragranced, I'm sure it was just the wood but once washed it was fine. I noticed straight away that I was getting more off when using this than with my older toothbrush and my teeth felt cleaner for longer - all day to be honest. Normally once I brush a few hours later I feel the squeaky clean feeling disappear. The head of the brush is larger but for some reason, it gets into the back of the teeth far easier than any others I've used also (electric, children's sized, dual brush and circular brush heads).
I won't use another brand now I can assure you that, I may try other wooden-biodegradable-natural brushes to compare them towards this brand but as far as going back to plastic, nope I won't be doing that as I love how clean my teeth look - it's as though I've gone for a scale and polish at the dentist's each morning and evening.
While this is recyclable, made from sustainable products and works exceptionally well, and I mean exceptionally well - I wouldn't class this as environmentally friendly given that it was designed in China, created in Australia and flown all over the world; the air miles alone dwindles its chances of being really environmentally friendly. Maybe I'm just being precious but I do feel they should have marketed it more as a 'natural' toothbrush given what it's created from rather than it being environmentally friendly.
If you want to give this a go you can pick it up on Amazon for £2.99, that's where mine was from and it was this exact listing that I used HERE. There are child versions and medium bristle options too.
Elyse
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