We’re big on arrowroot powder too. My children have corn allergies & so I have to be very careful as companies start being ‘eco’friendly & are making corn based packaging & the like. to the point… Underarm irritation can also be a sign of an allergy to the corn since the arm pit skin is delicate. Some studies have suggested the increase in diabetes is due to the increase in using corn as a sweetener/thickener. It has over 100 different names/forms.

You can use coconut oil, and though I love it for many things, I don’t want an oily cleaner for my mouth. So here’s my recipe:

Pure Vegetable Glycerine (NOW brand, health food store, $7 for a bottle)
Baking soda
A drop or two of Dr. Bronner’s liquid unscented castile soap (you could use peppermint, or any variety you like)
A drop of your choice of flavoring oil.

You could add more sweetener of your choice, (xylitol would be mine) but it’s not necessary because the glycerine is already sweet to the taste.

Anise and wintergreen are two of my favorite flavor oils for mint-free toothpaste, because wintergreen is not a member of the mint family, yet has freshening properties similar. Wintergreen oil naturally contains lots of methyl salicylate, so be warned that ingesting it in a large quantity can be harmful or fatal in the same way as overdosing on aspirin. However, one drop in a batch of toothpaste is as safe as wintergreen candy at least.

This toothpaste smells and tastes great, foams and cleans superbly, and really powered through plaque and left my teeth smooth, clean, and shiny, which the storebought natural stuff did not.
The only hardship is that I can’t package it in a tube, but must dip it from a jar, or else just run my damp toothpaste over castile bar soap, then dip in a jar of tooth powder made from baking soda and a drop of flavoring oil, blended. That would work too.

Stevia is not permitted for sale as food or as a food ingredient in the EU because it did not pass EU safety assessments. Data considered by a scientific committee found that stevia plant extract has the potential to produce adverse effects in the male reproductive system that could affect fertility, and also that a metabolite produced by microflora in the human gut is genotoxic (damages DNA).

Here in the United States, the Center for Science in the Public Interest raised concerns about potential cancer-causing properties in stevia and urged more tests before approval. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved stevia as a sweetener in December 2008 after PepsiCo and Coca-Cola reportedly wanted to use it as a sweetener for zero-calorie products. PCC sells it as an alternative choice for people who must restrict sugar. (Source: http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0912/editor.html)

I tried clicking the link, however, and it wouldn’t come up. I haven’t had a chance to do any further research. Probably the green powder is best (although it tastes funny, I think) the white powder not too bad, and the drops should be avoided.

Lots of people are suggesting baking soda… I made the baking soda/salt/peppermint oil tooth powder for a few months and it started taking the enamel off of my teeth. My dentist said baking soda should be used no more than once a week as it’s too hard on enamel for daily use.

One more question… do you think this would be okay for a toddler who doesn’t know how to spit? I know the oils would be fine… but I’m not sure about the swallowing soap part.

p.s. got a really nice dispenser on clearance for $2.25 at t@rget