I thought one of my LHCF sisters had lost her last piece of good mind, when she admonished us to begin brushing our teeth with soap! She is a dental student so I at least did her the courtesy of hearing her out. The reason for this foolishness seemed to have a very logical explanation however and I was once again intrigued.
It appears that most all toothpaste is made with glycerin being one of the primary ingredients. (Of course this led me to run to my bathroom to read the ingredients on my all natural toothpaste – and sure enough it was right there.) And from what I understand the glycerin is there for purely cosmetic purposes and in no way affects the cleanliness of your teeth.
Well, this is a bad thing because it takes approximately 30 rinses to remove said glycerin from your teeth and let’s face it, nobody is rinsing that long. The glycerin leaves a sticky coating on your teeth that prevents them from reenamalizing (go on and sound it out, I’ll wait).
I didn’t know the teeth were capable of repairing themselves and it explained the need for good dental insurance. If we’re preventing our teeth from repairing themselves on a daily basis then eventually they will start to break down and give out on us (enter shiny new dentures stage left).
As I still have half a tube of this somewhat expensive all natural toothpaste, I have to keep a wary eye on this one.
Somehow the thought of intentionally putting soap in my mouth is a little off-putting.
If anyone has incorporated liquid castile soap in any shape, form, or fashion into your daily regimen please comment below with your experiences. We’re all here to learn and I’d love to hear from you!