Plastic free toothpaste tablets
There are lots of eco-friendy alternative toothpaste choices on the market but we’ve landed on our toothpaste tablets from DENTTABS. They fit with our mission to be as zero waste as possible - a simple swap that won’t dramatically alter your lifestyle and bathroom routine.
Why toothpaste tablets?
There are many advantages of these toothpaste tabs but the top one for us is the tablet format means plastic free packaging. Most of the main toothpaste brands package their paste in plastic tubes. This is so the water-based paste (around 50% is water) stays stabilised and doesn’t leak.
Take the water away and you have more packaging options. We’ve gone with a simple glassine paper bag for the 14 tablet trial pack size. For the larger 180 tablet (3 month) supply we’ve included an aluminium tin to store them in.
Also, if you take the water away, you also take away the need for some of the chemicals used to stabilise the water-based paste. And reducing the chemicals needed is also a good thing.
What do toothpaste tabs taste like?
This is the closest toothpaste alternative we’ve tried so far that has that minty toothpaste taste. Some eco-friendly alternative toothpastes have a rather disappointing aftertaste or are just bitter from start to finish. So it’s nice to find the alternative that has that refreshingly minty taste (like a toothpaste really!)
Plastic free toothpaste with Fluoride
Also important is the fact that these DENTTABS have Fluoride - not all toothpaste tablets have it. Most normal toothpastes have Fluoride in them including all the major choices from the likes of Colgate or Oral-B. So having Fluoride is also a major positve in choosing these toothpaste tabs – not all toothpaste tablets have it. The science says that Fluoride aids the remineralisation of the enamel on your teeth and strengthens the enamel.
They have the same 1,450 parts per million (ppm) of Fluoride as most standard Fluoride toothpastes. One advantage of the tablet form is that the concentration of fluoride is kept at the 1,450ppm throughout the life of the tablet whilst being stored. In a standard water-based toothpaste the Fluoride can degrade to up to 80% less over 4 months. So you may well be getting more Fluoride in your tablet than in your tube of toothpaste.
How do you use DENTTABS?
If you’re used to toothpaste in paste form then how you use the tabs will be slighly different but no more complicated than toothpaste. It’s a case of popping one in your mouth and chewing into a paste (this only takes around 10 seconds) then brush as normal with a wet toothbrush. You’ll notice that it’s non foaming and therefore might feel more watery in the mouth than frothy but it’s still effective.
Using a single tablet each time you brush means you know you’re getting the right amount (no measuring out pea size amounts of paste!).
Ideally you’d use a soft/medium bristled manual toothbrush as it aids the polishing action of the toothpaste tablets. You’ll be glad to know you can buy a plastic free bamboo toothbrush right here. The Microcrystalline Cellulose ingredient gently polishes the teeth rather than any abrasive action.
Low abrasion and high polishing for your teeth
You might think that chewing a tablet into a powder and paste would mean that there would be an abrasive action against your teeth but actually these tablets have very low abrasion. In fact the RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasion) for the DENTTABS toothpaste tablets is a low score of 30. To give you an idea of what that means: brushing with only water has an RDA of 4 and Colgate Total has an RDA of 70 (still a low abrasion score).
The idea is that the tabs polish your teeth leaving a very smooth surface making it more difficult for for plaque to get a grip.
Buy toothpaste tablets for UK delivery here:
Toothpaste tablet Ingredients:
Microcrystalline Cellulose, Sodium Bicarbonate, Silica, Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate, Magnesium Stearate, Aroma (Natural Mint Flavour), Menthol, Xanthan-Gum, Stevioside, Citric Acid, Sodium Fluoride, Eugenol.
What the ingredients do:
Microfine cellulose fibers (Microcrystalline Cellulose) that can polish your teeth ultra smoothly even into the interdental spaces. Therefore, new particles on the tooth surfaces can simply bead off, plaque can hardly arise in the first place. No plaque – no tooth decay!
Sodium bicarbonate, also known as “soda”, together with citric acid (Citric Acid), sets the pH of the tablet to a neutral pH during brushing.
Silica is amorphous silicon dioxide, which acts as a soft brush and helps to remove any soft biofilm.
Amisoft (Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate) is a mild, natural surfactant (soap) from plant proteins. When cleaning, it helps to combine proteins, fats and carbohydrates with water to flush them out while rinsing. Sodium lauroyl glutamate should not be confused with the “glutamates” used in the food industry as a flavor enhancer – DENTTABS Toothpaste Tablets are glutamate and gluten free.
Magnesium Stearate is the magnesium soap of stearic acid, a herbal adjuvant necessary for tablet manufacture.
The natural (mint) aroma, together with the stevia extract and the menthol, provides the pleasant freshness of DENTTABS toothpaste tablets, as well as the unmistakably cool “freshness afterwards”.
Xanthan Gum In the DENTTABS toothpaste tablets, it ensures the pleasant creaminess after chewing.
Stevia (Stevioside) is a sweet-tasting plant that, together with the aroma and the menthol, provides the good taste. The steviosides are not sugar, but proteins that have a characteristic sweet taste. Therefore, steviosides can also cause no tooth decay.
Citric acid regulates the pH value together with sodium bicarbonate (see above) and stimulates the salivation. The increased salivation causes a faster remineralization of the tooth surfaces.
Sodium fluoride – It is used for the remineralization of the enamel and can especially help with sensitive tooth necks, but also with incipient caries. Because DENTTABS Toothpaste Tablets are “dry”, it only develops its full effect with the application.
Eugenol is part of the natural mint flavor. Eugenol is also known as a characteristic flavor of cloves.
Because DENTTABS toothpaste tablets are “dry”, means water-free, we don’t need any preservatives and germ-inhibiting substances. DENTTABS Toothpaste Tablets contain neither aluminum nor nanoparticles.
(Ingredients information taken from the DENTTABS website)