Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Is fluoride-free something to be desired? From all I’ve read on fluoride, it does no harm and it’s good for teeth.

We use Neways no sls, no harmful chemicals. if you want more info message me for a contact.

well, there’s a lot of debate on fluoride, stingers. it’s in our water now, and there are some camps that think too much is bad…

Tom’s of Maine makes many all natural toothpastes – that is what I brought to the island. Maybe a future chief could spend some money on getting a bunch of biodegradable toothpaste over to Fiji for all to use on the island. I was surprised how many visitors brought biodegradable shower products but didn’t think twice about their toothpaste. Great tips Kaz!

Cheers

hey mariah, tom’s of maine is better than most, but owned by colgate and isn’t fully biodegradable. of course, making positive incremental changes is preferable, but i’m still searching for better toothpastes!

Kazoo – lets try and make some toothpaste on Vorovoro in April. James Strawbridge and I talked about this last year and he thought it might be possible…

Tom’s tastes a little bit too tangy for me.

yeah, i’ve never come around to tom’s…i think it’s too sugary. i’ve been looking at j/a/s/o/n which has also been in the natural product business for years. they have some interesting types. so, perhaps i’ll bring a few with me, and people can try them.

as for making our own, it doesn’t sound that hard actually. here’s a basic recipe that i found which we could source locally:

It’s easy to make your own natural toothpaste! These instructions are especially useful if you are trying to minimize exposure to fluoride, such as for children or people who already have fluorosis. It’s sugar-free and non-toxic.

1. Mix three parts baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) with one part table salt (sodium chloride).

2. Add three teaspoons of glycerine for every 1/4 cup of dry mixture.

3. Add enough water to make a thick paste. If desired, a few drops of peppermint oil may be added to improve the taste.

4. Apply and use just as you would any other toothpaste. Store unused toothpaste at room temperature in a covered container.

Tips:

1. Consider Ben Franklin’s toothpaste, which was a mixture of honey and ground charcoal. Sweet, tasty, kinda gritty… probably didn’t keep the cavities away though.

2. Don’t like the flavor? You can use a different mint oil, oil of cinnamon, or oil of cloves (small quantity) instead of or in combination with peppermint oil.

3. Glycerine (sometimes spelled glycerin) is available at many pharmacies or in craft stores that sell soap-making supplies.

This may be a really stupid question, but what did Fijiian people use in the past to clean their teeth with? Is there something that can be found in nature on the island such as a leaf that you can chew? I know in NZ that the leaf of the horopito tree can be chewed to relieve toothache and of course you can use the twigs as toothpicks. Might be worth asking the locals to see if anyone has that knowledge.

so, hannah, sorry to be late in answering your question…while fijians may have used some natural options, most of the older fijians are missing almost all of their teeth. so, my feeling is that while there are traditional methods, they may not always be effective. to this end, i think we need to use what our technology affords us to come up with non-harmful but effective products.

we tested a handful of different toothpastes in april, and the tribe preferred the seafresh flavor made by j/a/s/o/n which is a long-standing green company.

http://www.jason-natural.com/products/oral_care.php