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Natural toothpaste is one of those swaps people put off, usually because they are not sure it will actually clean their teeth, and because the fluoride question feels like a minefield. It does not need to be complicated. Here is how to switch without gambling with your teeth.
This is the part everyone tiptoes around, so we will be plain. Fluoride has strong evidence behind it for preventing cavities, and most dentists recommend it. Plenty of people still prefer to avoid it, for their kids, during pregnancy, or simply as a personal choice, and that is a fair call to make. What matters is going in with your eyes open. If you or your children are prone to cavities, that is worth a chat with your dentist before you drop fluoride entirely.
If you do choose a fluoride free paste, the other ingredients matter more, not less. Look for one with hydroxyapatite, often written HA, which is the mineral your enamel is made from and a well regarded fluoride alternative for helping teeth stay strong. And go easy on the harsh whitening pastes, because scrubbing enamel away to look whiter is a bad trade.
Beyond the fluoride debate, most people switch to get away from a handful of other ingredients. SLS is the foaming agent that makes paste lather, and it is linked to mouth ulcers in people who get them often, so a SLS free paste is worth trying if that is you. Others want to skip artificial sweeteners, colours and triclosan. A good natural paste simply does the cleaning with gentler ingredients and usually a lot less foam, which throws people at first.
No toothpaste bleaches teeth the way a dentist can. What a good natural whitening paste does is lift surface stains from coffee, tea and red wine, gently, so you keep the enamel you have. Charcoal pastes are popular for this, though use them a few times a week rather than daily, as they can be a touch abrasive. Managing expectations here saves a lot of disappointment.
The Grants whitening paste uses hydroxyapatite, the flavour free one suits sensitive mouths and anyone who cannot stand mint, and there are kid friendly flavours from Grants and Jack N' Jill that make the switch easy for little ones. The Auromere is a proper spiced ayurvedic paste for people who want something completely different.
Give it two weeks. The lack of foam and the change in flavour feels strange for the first few days and then it just becomes normal. The brushing itself matters far more than the paste anyway, so two minutes, twice a day, do not rinse too hard afterwards, and see your dentist on schedule whatever is on your brush.
The full range is under Oral Care, and if you would rather talk it through with a person we are at 936 Anzac Parade, Maroubra, open seven days.
