At last! Plastic-free toothpaste that actually tastes like toothpaste and contains fluoride… Jackpot!
You can keep your teeth and save the planet after all. Chew these pills and keep your golden grills clean. Or your normal teeth, whatever cleans your gums chums.
To use, just chew one tablet and add a dab of water to feel it magically turn into toothpaste. Then clean your teeth as normal. (For a whole two minutes mind, otherwise the tooth fairy will be after you.)
1 month’s supply (in small glass jar) = 60 Denttabs tablets
6 months supply (in cardboard box) = 360 Denttabs tablets
That’s for one person. If you want two months’ worth, which would be 1 month’s supply for two people, then just click ‘1 month’s supply’ and put the quantity as 2. Get it?
Denttabs were developed by Dentists and are vegan and cruelty-free. They have the COSMOS Natural seal of the BDIH - which is an internationally recognised standard for controlled natural cosmetics. This means Denttabs include no artificially produced fragrances or dyes, contain mostly plant-based or natural ingredients and are produced in a responsible, environmentally friendly way. Another reason to smile. :)
Denttabs Toothpaste Tablets (with fluoride!)
Plastic tubes of toothpaste of course! Unrecyclable horrors.
Most of us these days, manage to keep a substantial number of our teeth into old age (or we hope to anyway) and we can put that down to improved dental hygiene and dentistry, despite our increasing consumption of sugary teeth rotting goodness. Toothpaste, this underrated wonder of the modern age, makes it all better and keeps us smiling toothily rather gummily grinning. Not something one would like to forgo then, despite the environmental problems of toothpaste packaging. We are only human after all and the self-sacrifice of your pearly whites will mean nothing if your lack of teeth means you find it hard to elucidate your eco-friendly ethics to others who might otherwise follow your lead. Thank goodness for a viable replacement for the toothpaste we all know and use then.
Fluoride!! All plastic-free toothpaste replacements made in the UK seem to be fluoride free which has frustrated me for a long time. I’ve done the research and have come to the conclusion that I want to keep my teeth as long as possible thanks, so fluoride it is. There is a lot of misinformation floating around about fluoride, making it harder to come across reliable sources to trust. (See the ‘Material Ratings’ section for further discussion and sources.) I’d rather stick with dentist’s opinions personally, which is generally wholly in favour of fluoride. To me, that settles it. If you disagree, you can buy fluoride-free toothpaste in plenty of other places.
This brings me to the next bonus point, Denttabs actually taste like toothpaste! Minty freshness. 😊 The fluoride-free kinds of toothpaste tend to taste like clay, which is bizarre to start with, you do get used to that though, but it is not for everyone. I wanted to find an alternative that was as close as possible to normal toothpaste and this is what I’ve come up with. Pop a Denttab in your mouth, use a bit of water or saliva (don’t just crunch them with a dry mouth) and bam! Toothpaste. So clever.
No water added = dramatically reduced carbon footprint and water consumption. Toothpaste is mainly water. I get these toothpaste tabs in bags of 10,000 tablets. Which is enough toothpaste to last me nearly 14 years if I was to just use it all myself. 14 years of toothpaste weighs just over 3 kg. I would like to go weigh an equivalent amount in toothpaste tubes, but it might look slightly too crazy to go to a supermarket and start weighing toothpaste tubes. Handy then, that someone has clearly already done that for me, as googling ‘How much does 100 ml of toothpaste weigh?’ The answer is 130 g. I’m not sure if that is with or without the tube though…let’s call it 150 g for now. Remind me to buy some pocket scales I can carry with me for this sort of ‘important research in search of answers to questions you never asked.’
Say you buy four toothpaste tubes a year. That’s 8.4 kg in 14 years. Denttabs represent a pretty good weight loss if you ask me. Keep your bathroom and your carbon footprint nice and trim. Not to mention all that packaging you are saving from landfills! (Toothpaste tubes are very rarely recycled.)
Why else is it better?
- Denttabs cite reduced sensitivities and fewer dental health problems for users, which should give you something to smile about.
- Handy for travelling with, no need to take a bulky tube of toothpaste, just a few tablets.
- Not a liquid - not a problem in airport security.
- Less foamy, so less chance of getting toothpaste all over you or dribbling attractively out of the sides of your mouth whilst you brush.
- Store them in any container you like, personalise your toothpaste storage or repurpose a container you’d otherwise chuck.
… After using these for years now, going back to normal toothpaste seems really bizarre, and a bit over the top I guess. Does it need to foam so much?! I could never move away from the sink when cleaning my teeth before as I’d just be dripping it everywhere (no idea how everyone else seems to clean their teeth so tidily?), whereas, with Denttabs there’s a whole new world of multitasking whilst teeth cleaning that’s been opened up to me. Plus, if I clean my teeth in front of someone there is less chance of them mistaking me as being rabid. Win!
The price of toothpaste varies a lot, from just a pound to around £4 at the higher end of the scale. Let’s call it £2 for a 100ml tube.
At £3 for a month’s worth, Denttabs is clearly more expensive than a tube of toothpaste you’d buy in the supermarket, as that tube would probably last more than one month. But, if you’ve dabbled in plastic-free toothpaste before, you’ll know that the alternatives are priced more like luxury items than everyday products. I think that Denttabs offer a much more reasonably priced alternative. If you are considering buying these toothpaste tablets, you are probably more concerned with the amount of packaging used in plastic tubes of toothpaste and are willing to pay a little bit extra for an alternative. I hope I have been able to provide you with that alternative without it breaking the bank. While plastic-free alternatives are still ‘niche’ they will be more expensive, hopefully, in future, we can change that! If I have to buy one less coffee or whatever per month though to afford such plastic-free toothpaste, well that’s not much of a sacrifice. Plus, you save a bit of money if you buy 6 months' supply rather than just 1 months' worth. (6 months supply = £15 which means you get 6 months Denttabs for the price of five months worth!)
What are they made from?
Packaging: The bulk bags of Denttabs come in a compostable bag. These bags of Denttabs are sent enclosed in a cardboard box with paper tape sealing it shut.
Ingredients: Microcrystalline Cellulose, Sodium Bicarbonate, Silica, Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate, Magnesium Stearate, Aroma (Natural Mint Flavour), Menthol, Xanthan-Gum, Stevioside, Citric Acid, Sodium Fluoride, Eugenol
This is Denttabs' explanation (in their own words, which has been translated from German, by them may I add) as to why they used these ingredients, so refreshing to see a company explaining the purpose of what they put in their product! -
- ‘Microfine cellulose (Microcrystalline Cellulose) polishes your teeth ultra-smoothly into the interdental spaces. This is why new particles simply roll off the tooth surfaces, and plaque can hardly be created in the first place.
- Sodium fluoride (Sodium Fluoride) is used to remineralize the enamel and can help especially with sensitive tooth necks, but also with incipient caries. Because DENTTABS are "dry", it unfolds their full effect only with the application.
- Amisoft (Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate) is a surfactant (soap) that combines dissolved proteins and fats with water to flush them out while rinsing. In AMISOFT glutamic acid is esterified with coconut fatty acids. In this chemical process, two naturally occurring substances (coconut fatty acids and glutamic acid) are combined, losing their original properties. "Glutamate" should not be confused with the flavour enhancers used in the food industry - DENTTABS are glutamate- and gluten-free.
- Stevia (Stevioside) is a sweet-tasting plant that, together with the aroma and the menthol, provides a good taste.
- Silica (silica) serves as a cleaning agent and helps to remove any soft plaque.
- Natural (mint) aroma, together with stevia and menthol, provide a pleasant feeling of freshness and a "cool" and fresh breath.
- Sodium bicarbonate, better known as " sodium bicarbonate ", adjusts the pH to 5.5 with vitamin C.
- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid/citric acid) regulates the pH value together with sodium bicarbonate (see above) and stimulates salivation. The increased flow of saliva causes faster remineralization of the tooth surfaces.
- Magnesium Stearate (Magnesium Stearate) is a herbal adjuvant used in tablet manufacturing.
- Menthol, together with stevia and the mint aroma, provides a pleasant "freshness afterwards".
- Xanthan gum is a natural thickener and gelling agent and provides pleasant creaminess after chewing DENTTABS Toothpaste tablets.
- Eugenol is part of the natural mint flavour.
DENTTABS are free of preservatives, germ-inhibiting substances, binders and contain neither aluminium nor nanoparticles.’
Where do they come from?
Germany
Are they sustainable?
Microcrystalline Cellulose – A.K.A refined wood pulp. A naturally occurring polymer, which means it is biodegradable, unlike most synthetic polymers. It is the most common polymer found in nature. Has no nutritional value, and humans can’t digest it, so cellulose is completely inert to humans. It is often used as a filler in food to bulk a product out and is popular as an ingredient in ‘diet’ foods for this reason. Wood pulp is a plentiful raw material, and is produced mainly from softwood trees like pine. It can be made mechanically or chemically. Mechanical pulping is more efficient, as fewer trees are needed to make the same amount of pulp as chemical pulping. Chemical pulping has issues with pollution due to the chemicals used to break down the cellulose fibre, (although some mills work on a closed-loop structure to contain and reuse the chemicals needed) mechanical pulping does not have these problems, it is more resource-intensive. Wood is a renewable resource but often comes from monoculture plantations which were originally old-growth forests. Mismanagement of forests is a concern. Microcrystalline cellulose can also be made from agricultural waste materials, which is clearly a more environmentally friendly option. Hopefully, in future, we will see it mainly sourced from these waste products rather than deforested wood.
Sodium Bicarbonate – has a ridiculous amount of uses. These range from relieving heartburn to getting rid of any lingering radioactive uranium deposits on your clothing. Useful stuff this. Sodium bicarbonate is made from the minerals nahcolite and trona, which are then refined into soda ash, which is then turned into bicarb of soda. Nahcolite and trona are mined, (the US has the largest deposits) so they are not renewable resources, but are so abundant we have enough to last more than 2000 years. Mining isn’t the most environmentally friendly process, but producing sodium bicarbonate synthetically uses up and gives off a lot of nasty chemicals, so swings and roundabouts. Good, bad, whatever, I refuse to go any further into this mining debate without a headtorch at least.
Silica – is basically sand, but you can get it from sandstone, granite, plants, animals or even make it synthetically. It’s abundant, so we don’t have to worry about running out thankfully. Cosmetics use a non-crystalline form of silica. (As opposed to industrial crystalline silica, which has a bad rep for the health problems it causes in workers exposed to it because crystalline silica can cause respiratory disorders when breathed in.) The kind of silica used in cosmetics does not pose a risk to your health. It’s very safe.
Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate – Derived from coconut oil, seems to not be of any environmental concern.
Magnesium Stearate – is made from a reaction of Stearic Acid, (which is one of the most common forms of saturated fat in nature) and Magnesium Sulphate. It can be synthesised from many things, so plenty of it to go around no worries there. It is broken down very easily so not an environmental issue either. It is basically used to combine ingredients together evenly in tablets, rather than the mixture of chemicals lumping together unequally. This makes sure you get the same amount of ingredients in each tablet. Important stuff.
Menthol - It can be made naturally from mint oils or created synthetically. I can’t find any information that states the environmental impact of menthol, so it should be ok.
Xanthan-Gum – Acts as a binding agent and thickener. It is made by fermenting sugars such as glucose by a particular strain of bacteria. The feedstock for the bacteria can often be made of ‘waste’ from the food industry, such as whey, which is a waste product of cheese production. In terms of its environmental impact, it seems fine, with plenty of bacteria to help make it, and there are studies showing that it is an eco-friendly way to help stabilise peat and soil (instead of cement or lime). Which makes it seem as if it probably won’t be harmful if it escapes into the environment. Again, not a lot of information on xanthan gum’s environmental impact.
Stevioside – This comes from the Stevia plant, mainly grown in South American and some Asian countries. It is primarily used as a sweetener. Its sweetening power compared to sugar is much more intense, so a teaspoon of stevia would provide the same amount of sweetness as a cup of sugar. Health benefits to that aside, that means less stevia has to be grown than sugar to add the same amount of sweetness. You need about a fifth of the land that you would for sugar to grow stevia, which also means less water is used to grow the crop than sugar too. So it is a much more environmentally friendly way to sweeten consumables!
Citric Acid – naturally occurring in citrus fruits, as you may have guessed. It has many varied uses. Production occurs industrially by feeding cultivations of a particular type of bacteria with types of sugars, usually corn syrup which is cheap to use as a feedstock, to produce citric acid. It is mostly made in China, and half of what is produced is used as an acidity regulator in drinks. It can be shown as an ingredient by its E number, which is E330. 10% is used in non-food-related products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals (which is the category this use would fall under). Mixed with sodium bicarbonate it creates the foaming action of the toothpaste. Citric acid is naturally found in food sources so it readily biodegrades, causing no harm to the environment from its use.
Sodium Fluoride – The one that causes a load of debate. Sodium fluoride helps prevent tooth cavities. Ingestion, such as drinking fluorinated water, is less effective than topical application, i.e. by using toothpaste. There is a long-established historical basis for claiming the benefits of fluoride for dental health. Despite this, there are lots of claims that ‘It’s toxic!!’ Well of course it is… in high doses. Nearly everything is toxic in high doses, so don’t get worked up about it, unless you only eat toothpaste and nothing else for some reason. (Note - Children should be exposed to less fluoride than adults though, as their tolerance is much lower whilst they have their baby teeth. Once you have your adult teeth, this is no longer really a problem, so stop panicking.) Fluoride is naturally found in nearly everything it seems, be that rocks, soil and in nearly all water sources throughout the world, and places that don’t have much fluoride in their water often add it to public water sources to spare us excess trips to the dentist. Some countries add it to salt instead. How thoughtful. Fluorination of water is one of the biggest public health initiatives in the world and has saved a lot of toothaches. Unless you live in an area with an excessively high level of fluoride in the local water sources, most people are very, very unlikely to intake enough fluoride from drinking water, eating food, brushing their teeth and breathing etc. to cause harm.
Lots of studies have been done on the acute toxicity of fluoride for terrestrial and aquatic animals as well as plants. Harm has been found to be caused to organisms within a close range of places where fluoride is used for industrial purposes, such as aluminium smelters or brickworks. However, other pollutants emitting from these factories are likely to cause similar problems, so it is not entirely verified whether fluoride alone causes these problems due to these compounding factors. For freshwater organisms, fluoride levels can be increased to toxic levels by human sources, and this can depend on water hardness. Again, any other human effluence could also contribute to this kind of pollution. More work needs to be done to properly assess whether human sources are leading to environmental pollution and how to prevent this, but evidence seems to suggest so far that industrial uses of fluoride (not just sodium fluoride, but calcium fluoride, hydrogen fluoride etc.) present a greater risk of becoming a pollutant.
If you would like more information, this is my source compiled by experts and published by the ‘United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, and produced within the framework of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals.’ If you can’t believe these lot, then I’m afraid I can’t help you further. http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc227.htm#1.0
Eugenol – Naturally found in clove oil, and other similar spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg among many others. It makes up over 80% of clove oil so is normally extracted from cloves. Eugenol is mainly used as a ‘perfume’ or ‘fragrance’ as an ingredient. It is anti-septic and anti-inflammatory and can be used to soothe toothache (even though Denttabs don’t list this as their reason for using Eugenol, I imagine that is why they chose it over other ‘fragrances’.) When combined with zinc oxide, this kind of eugenol, Zinc Oxide Eugenol, is commonly used in dentistry. Eugenol is biodegradable and is readily broken down by microbes, in soil especially. Aquatic creatures such as fish are sensitive to Eugenol (it is used as a fish anaesthetic in low doses) and it can be toxic in high doses. Eugenol is also used as a herbicide, so the risk of toxicity in case of spills is much higher for that use than in the extremely small doses contained in this product. The study I looked at found it unlikely to be a problem unless you pretty much poured a tankerload in a river, but it is clearly a concern worth noting. As Eugenol is broken down quite rapidly, it is not expected to be of any environmental concern at the level used here, as it is not persistent in the environment.
How about ethical?
No information as of yet on the working conditions etc. As a German company, they are bound to stand by EU laws so we should be alright.
Extra good stuff:
Denttabs ship CO2 neutral, which means they pay to offset the emissions made during transportation. I think all businesses should do this! Hang on while I go buy a load of trees to plant…
Conclusion –
Plastic pollution been wiping the grin off your face and got you foaming at the mouth in anger? Chew on a Denttab instead of the problem and turn that frown upside down with this plastic free toothpaste. Giving you fresh breath, a clean conscience, and a winning smile!
How much fluoride is there in Denttabs?
Fluoride per tablet is 1.450ppm = 0,15%.
Weight of one tablet is ~1/3 Gramm.
The average toothpaste contains 1350-1500ppm of fluoride. Each Denttab then has about the same amount of fluoride as 1g of (adult) toothpaste, so it is pretty much equivalent to your average well known toothpaste brands.
Denttabs also have a low abrasion value, approx 35 RDA.
Are Denttabs suitable for kids?
Each Denttab has the same amount of fluoride as 1g of (adult) toothpaste, so it is equivalent. If you live in an area where the water is not fluorinated it should be fine for kids to use, those who do live in fluorinated areas may want to check the levels in the water supply first, as kids need less fluoride than adults. It may be worth asking your dentist and see what they think, as Denttabs may only be suitable for older children, and I’m sure your dentist will have a better idea than me of whether it is ok or not. If your kids are already using adult toothpaste they should be absolutely fine in using them, as long as they are good at cleaning their teeth and do it properly. As they foam up less, it is important to spend the proper amount of time cleaning them to make sure you are reaching all areas. A soft bristled toothbrush is recommended as it is easier to spread the denttab round your mouth using a softer toothbrush. It is also worth mentioning that because they taste a bit like mints, it may be worth keeping them out of the reach of young kids in case they mistake them for sweets!
This link roughly shows which areas receive fluoride in the water supply - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/fluoride/Are they Vegan?
Denttabs state on their website that they are completely vegan, but the company hasn’t bought a ‘vegan seal of certification’ due to the high cost of being certified when not that many customers are asking them to specifically display such a certification.
This is their exact words (translated from German) ‘DENTTABS and the individual ingredients have nothing animal about them. The fact that we have not yet been certified as having yet another seal is honestly due to the rather low demand, the high costs and the associated time expenditure.’
What kind of toothbrush should I use with them?
Denttabs recommend using a soft bristled toothbrush, as this helps with the ‘polishing’ action. However I use a medium stiffness bristle and that works for me. I’m not a fan of soft bristled toothbrushes for my own personal use. (The bamboo toothbrushes sold on this site are medium stiffness bristles, but I will start stocking soft bristled toothbrushes in future.)
What about electric toothbrushes?
As Denttabs state that ideally a softer bristled brush should be used with them, they do not encourage the use of electric toothbrushes with Denttabs. I got one of my friends who uses an electric toothbrush to try out Denttabs, and she found that because Denttabs don’t foam up that much, she struggled to spread the Denttab around all her teeth using the electric brush. I’ve never used an electric toothbrush, so I’ve no idea what they are like or how they work. Use whatever works for you, but I just thought this may be worth taking into consideration.
Denttabs now have a letter on each side stamped on them – what do these letters mean?
The tablets have just recently now been branded, (to reduce copycats I believe), the D stands for Denttabs, and the F- is the chemical symbol for fluoride. …Yes, I know the F- is confusing, but I do not sell Denttabs without fluoride so no need to worry.
