Travel Shampoo Bottle?

That's kind of cool. I would think to use a disposable (or not) pastry piping bag for storage, that way, all you would have to do is cover the opening, and wont have to worry (that much) about cross-contamination when you squeeze the paste on your brush.

glycerin is often found in drug stores. if you've ever made homemade bubble solution, you've probably bought glycerin to make your bubbles stronger. it is also called glycerol.

You could possibly use a piping bag.

Or at least some piping tips and a heavy duty plastic zip top bag with a corner cut out (like Alton Brown recommends instead of a piping bag). Being able to zip closed would prevent the toothpaste from drying out.

I wonder - can you get straight flouride in liquid form? If so, adding a little of that to this mix may even get you close to something the American Dental Association would be okay with.

You could use the piping bag to squeeze your homemade toothpaste into your last commercial toothpaste tube.

Are you confident that soda isn't too abrasive for daily use?

Why glycerin? And why salt?

I think a reusable container and espresso spoon is a good container/application choice. Maybe a jelly, mustard or other small glass jar this way you can make it as you need it and it doesn't sit for too long. I like the idea that this also is going to help our environment and reduce waste so it should definitely NOT be a plastic bag al a Alton Brown.

Last I checked, fluoride in too strong a concentration is really dangerous, so I doubt you can buy your own. But now that a lot of places have fluoridated water, it may not be a problem.

And the baking soda taste is one of the only reasons I don't make my own.

For those w/ sensitive teeth/gums, baking soda is too abrasive. My dentist told me to avoid it.

You can get Fluordie in a gel form, but it has to be perscribed to you by a dentist.

the link to the article regarding the benefits of these ingredients did not work. I am eager to try this and hopefully save some money.

I think you'd find that Xylitol would be a better item to have in it, you might think I'm crazy suggesting a sugar, however this sugar alcohol (which look it up, is actually natural AND good for you, even though you never hear about it---> it comes from corn) won't let plaque stick to it so there are toothpastes out there which use it. It's very good for your teeth and in fact is even safe for diabetics!

amyd99 - that link is fixed, thanks.

you could use an empty toothpaste container - the bottle style ones, not the tube.

Or baking supply stores (sur la Table for one) sells small plastic squeeze bottles for icing cookies, or holding sauces - they might work as well.

When we were kids my mom made her own toothpaste (along with everything else) and she just stored it in an empty jam jar and we used a spoon to scoop it out onto our brushes - I think the recipe she used was very similar to what you used.

For a year i made and used my own toothpaste from a mix of kosher salt and baking soda.

... now i am facing the threat of an extensive gum graft due to gum recession. That is, erosion of the gums, caused by the abrasion of baking soda.

Do you know how they do this? Either they will graft new "gums" for me using chunks of tissue from the top of my mouth, OR: use donated gum tissue from a cadaver. How appropriately Hallowe'eny.

In conclusion: baking soda = NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Teeth actually abrade pretty easily. Baking soda is actually a lot more abrasive than most of the polishing substances we use in dentistry. Most people use too much pressure when they brush anyway which causes gingival recession and tooth abrasion.
Kittystockings, sorry to hear about your gingival tissue graft... I've heard you should stock up on pudding, yogurt, soups for after your treatment.

Too abrasive. Most of us tend to already have too much salt in the diet.

I didn't used to floss very often but now its a must do habit each night. I keep floss contaners scattered around the apt. to remind me.

How can this save money? An off-brand tube of toothpaste goes for a dollar, 50 cents on a good sale day. A bottle of vegetable glycerin is 8 bucks (I know because I make lotion with it).

If you really want to save, brush for 5 minutes with a good, new brush and no paste, then rinse with water, then floss. Toothpaste is really only to add abrasive and/or fluoride to the process.

@shayna: Um...it's reusable. Just fill the bag with more when you make more. Use a heavy duty one. The tops of most piping bags don't seal. You can twist them, but I'm gonna say that zipping it closed is a better seal and easier.

This isn't like tossing a sandwich bag after eating lunch everyday.

As someone with mild gum erosion from years and years of brushing too hard, that "just polished" feeling is a red flag.

But I do want to look for tooth powder now. My grandfather always used it. It was not baking soda, not salty, and probably not all natural. It was just a little cannister of minty powder the consistency of flour, and you sprinkled a little on a wet toothbrush. It didn't foam up so it wasn't very interesting to me as a kid, but as far as saving money, anytime you pay for something with the water already added, you're probably paying more than you have to (shower gel vs. bar soap, for instance).

As someone who has worked in the dental profession, let me echo that baking soda is something we DO NOT recommend for even occasional, let alone daily use. It is much too abrasive and can lead to the exact kind of thing kittystockings is dealing with, along with other things like loss of enamel. I would not suggest doing this.

I would like to add to the warnings. I did this in high school and now have nothing but problems because I stripped the enamel off my teeth. I cant drink hot drinks because of the sensitivity Im fighting, and Im looking at thousands of dollars in dental bills. I loved that 'just polished' feeling and now Im paying for it.

If saving money is important, combine a coupon with a sale and get your toothpaste for next to nothing.

Please do not make your own toothpaste!!!!

if you still want to go this route, a great solution can be found by using a mouth irrigator to hold the paste. you can see one in this pic:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/2140985787_937a0a3314.jpg?v=0

just use a wirecutter or a good scissor to cut off most of the tip (leave a little bit and sand it down with some sandpaper or a file).

Kittystocking: I had gum grafting done when I was 15 (genetic in my case; exacerbated by wearing braces). It's not that horrible. They took tissue from the roof of my mouth. There were a few uncomfortable days, but I healed pretty quickly.

Sorry you have to go through this; you have my sympathy.

2 things:

Floss, floss every day. You could technically be flossing right now while you are reading this article, or if you are like me and are bored during lunch at work, take some floss with you to work and floss then. Keep some floss by your computer and floss while watching a youtube video. If you have a nice wire glued to the back of your lower teeth be sure you floss all those teeth every day even if you floss nowhere else. It can take 2-5 flossings to get used to or to figure out how to get floss behind and around it but it's worth it. This is the area where the most plaque will build up. If I don't floss mine the plaque buildup can get so bad in just one week that I can knock big junks of it off my teeth by pushing a toothpick between them.

Brush at lunch, take a toothbrush with you to work and brush your teeth in the restroom after lunch. You'll have much better breath during the day and you wont have stuff eating away your enamel during the afternoon.

and like the dentists have been saying be careful what you brush with and brush without applying much pressure to the toothbrush. You want the ends of the brush to be lightly touching your teeth and gums. If you use normal toothpaste you can make it last a long time if you simply use less of it. You don't really need that much.

Not only is this recipe abrasive, but it lacks one very important ingredient that a few comments have also mentioned...Fluoride. You're just not going to be able to add this yourself, and it provides perhaps the greatest benefit of over-the-counter toothpastes. Ever notice how the ADA seal of approval is ONLY found on fluoride-containing toothpastes...not a coincidence. I'm all for saving money, and the environment, but in this case your oral health is better served by the stuff you can buy at the store. And, you only need to use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste each time you brush. An economy-sized tube on sale should last a long time, and be light on the wallet. I am in dental school, so I'm not just making this up.

uhh... i hate to be a naysayer, but aura cacia oils aren't intended for internal use... i'd feel wary about using non-organic oils, too, since it's a concentration. whether or not that's scientifical, i don't know. if you don't care about organic/conventional ingredients, do it for the environment.

a brand that is okay to use in/on your cuerpo is simplers. it's sort of pricey, but if you care enough to bother making your own bodycare junk, why half-ass the materials?

Two things:

1. I really want to find a GOOD toothpaste that isn't abrasive now knowing that it's a poor idea to use Baking Soda on my teeth everyday.

2. I don't think fluoride is a necessary ingredient at all, but if I can't avoid it in store bought toothpaste then I can't avoid it.

The fact that I feel as though making this toothpaste would do more harm then good is really disparaging.

I tried this recipe and tried to bear it, but it's just plain awful tasting. I think it's the salt. However, it does leave my mouth feeling sanitized (probably from the salt).