Your oral health is a crucial part of your overall well-being. This makes caring for it an important task. And what better way to do it than by avoiding chemicals that can pose risks to your health, right? So if you’re thinking of switching to the best vegan toothpaste to make your dental care efforts more wholesome, this guide is for you.
Top 3 Vegan Toothpastes
[OVERALL BEST VEGAN TOOTHPASTE] 1. Cali White ACTIVATED CHARCOAL & ORGANIC COCONUT OIL TEETH WHITENING TOOTHPASTE | 4.5/5
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[BEST VALUE FOR THE MONEY] 2. Dental Expert ACTIVATED CHARCOAL TEETH WHITENING TOOTHPASTE | 4.5/5
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[BEST FLUORIDE FREE VEGAN] | 4.5/5
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Buying Guide: What You Need to Know to Find the Best Vegan Toothpaste
Many would agree that oral care can be a complicated matter. On top of picking out the best Sonicare toothbrush and choosing a side on the alcohol vs non-alcohol mouthwash debate, shopping for the right toothpaste can also be overwhelming. With so many different options available, it’s easy to get confused.
What makes things more challenging is the fact that even the most popular toothpastes aren’t always the best options. While the ADA recommends the use of fluoride toothpaste to prevent tooth decay, the FDA has mandated that all products with this ingredient should bear a poisoning warning.
This makes commercially available toothpastes quite dangerous if you’ll think about it closely. Sure, there are tons of them that are tested for safety and effectiveness against dental caries. All of these do not erase the fact that its use can still put your health in danger.
As an alternative, you can opt for a vegan toothpaste. With their different formula, they might just be everything a commercially available product is not.
But isn’t toothpaste vegan in the first place? Most of the commercially available oral care products are not necessarily vegan for two reasons. One is because they typically contain glycerin. While this ingredient can be derived from plants, a lot of manufacturers also get it from animal fat.
Vegan varieties either do away from them completely since all they really do is prevent the product from drying out or swap them out with vegetable glycerine. But if it’s not indicated as such in the ingredients list, there’s a chance that the toothpaste you’re eyeing is not vegan.
Two is their testing methods. Vegan products should be cruelty-free, so only the toothpaste not tested on animals are considered as such.
Because of these, vegan toothpastes are not just your alternative options for fluoride toothpastes. They will also be suitable choices for those who do not want to compromise their principles and advocacies.
Note, however, that some vegan toothpastes can still contain fluoride. Because this ingredient is derived from a mineral, it can still be considered as a natural ingredient. What classifies such items as vegan oral care products is the way they were manufactured. Some of these toothpastes not tested on animals, so they can still be qualified as vegan products.
All of these can be quite confusing, so to make things simpler for everyone, let’s just stick with two points as criteria for what we will consider as a vegan toothpaste:
- All-natural ingredients.
- Not tested on animals.
Is Colgate vegan, then? While the brand is on PETA’s “Working for Regulatory Change” list, it’s not entirely cruelty-free. They still test on animals in areas where it’s required to so their products can’t be entirely considered as such.
Is Crest toothpaste vegan? This brand tests on animals so they might not have the cruelty free toothpaste you’re looking for.
Is Tom's toothpaste vegan? This would be a yes but with some exceptions. While it’s now owned by Colgate, Tom’s has always been one of the best known vegan toothpaste brands. It maintains its production to be cruelty-free even after the acquisition.
However, some of their products contain beehive ingredients, so those aren’t considered vegan. You can always opt for their other offerings, though, and still get to enjoy an all-natural and cruelty-free dental care product.
How about Cleure toothpaste? Best known for their gentle formula, Cleure products are considered vegan. They can actually be great options for those with very sensitive gums and teeth.
Now that you know what counts as a vegan toothpaste, the next thing you might want to know about is how you can find the best one. To help you with that, here are a few things that you should look for if you want to be certain that you’ll end up with the best vegan toothpaste:
Look at the ingredients list.
Aside from determining whether it can be considered as a vegan product or not, a toothpaste’s ingredients list can also tell you whether it can do a good job of cleaning your pearly whites. This is especially true if you’re skipping fluoride. You’ll need a solid alternative to help you keep the bad bacteria from creating cavities on your teeth.
To ensure that you’ll get great results from an all-natural toothpaste, here are some of the ingredients that they should contain:
- Neem leaf or bark extract for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Xylitol for its ability to fight plaque, bad bacteria, and gum disease.
- Stevia for antiseptic, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties.
- Baking soda for its effectiveness in removing plaque.
The best organic toothpaste can also help you ensure the quality of the product you’re getting. These items tend to use some of the best and purest ingredients, so there’s a good chance that they’ll have more potent components.
Do a good amount of research.
To make sure that you’ll end up with a reliable vegan oral care product, you’ll really need to do a good deal of research. If you can narrow down cruelty-free toothpaste brands, you can have an easier time choosing which products will suit your needs best.
A good deal of research can also help you find the feedback you need to learn more about a product. As not all cruelty-free toothpaste are made equally, you should make sure to end up with one that will do a great job in caring for your teeth.
Product Reviews: Our Top 6 Picks of the Best Cruelty-Free Toothpaste
To further help you in your search for the best vegan/cruelty-free toothpaste, we’ve rounded up some of the most popular and highly-recommended items today. Here are six that might just help you make the switch for an all-natural and humane oral care product:
4.5/5
With the rise in popularity of activated charcoal, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Cali White Activated Charcoal & Organic Coconut Oil Teeth Whitening Toothpaste has also gained a lot of attention lately. This product combines two of the natural alternatives to traditional toothpaste, so it can be a solid choice for those who want to make a switch to a vegan product.
If you’ve been keeping yourself updated with the latest natural wellness trends, you won’t miss that activated charcoal and oil pulling are two of the biggest oral health trends lately. Activated charcoal has won a lot of people over by being an effective teeth whitener. While it still has risks, lots of users deem them to be safer than using chemicals.
Oil pulling with coconut oil also made waves lately. This is a traditional Ayurvedic technique comes with several health benefits, most of which boost your oral health. It promises to prevent and treat gingivitis, remove plaque, and fight bad breath. As a result, coconut oil also rose to fame as a natural oral care ingredient.
By combining the two, this Cali White toothpaste harnesses the power of both to whiten your teeth and care for your oral health in one go. The activated charcoal can scrape off both plaque and stains from the surface of your teeth, giving you a whiter and brighter smile. The coconut oil, on the other hand, will help thoroughly clean and fight off bacterial growth inside your mouth.
As a result, it can offer similar results to oral care products with fluoride. But without fluoride, sulfates, peroxide, triclosan, and gluten, it might even be better for your health. It can definitely suit the needs of folks with specific sensitivities.
Aside from activated charcoal and coconut oil, this product also contains tea tree oil, xylitol, baking soda, and peppermint oil. These natural ingredients all contribute to making the formula more effective in cleaning the insides of your mouth and fighting off bacterial growth that can cause tooth decay.
The only downside is that it’s a bit more expensive than regular toothpaste. But since you’re getting fewer health risks in exchange, it can certainly be worth the few additional bucks.
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4.5/5
Looking for a vegan product to whiten your teeth? The Dental Expert Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Toothpaste can be a solid choice for you. This product is free from the toxic ingredients that are commonly used to bleach your teeth, so this can be a healthier alternative.
Instead of fluoride or peroxide, this product uses activated charcoal made from bamboo to whiten the teeth. Its abrasive texture makes it highly effective in scraping off plaque and other kinds of stains that make your teeth appear discolored. It also pulls out the toxins that sit beneath the surface of the teeth. As a result, it gets to further lighten your smile.
While it is marketed as an all-natural teeth whitening product, it does more than just give you a megawatt smile. It can also help improve your oral health without putting your overall wellness at risk.
It also contains coconut oil and tea tree oil which are known to be beneficial to your oral health. Their antibacterial properties help keep the bad bacteria inside your mouth under control. In turn, they keep gingivitis, tooth decay, and bad breath at bay.
If you’re worried about not getting that minty fresh breath after brushing with a vegan toothpaste, you don’t have to be with this product. As this item uses actual peppermint oil to add flavor and fresh scent to this oral care product, it might even be a better choice for you.
Because of this, your breath won’t just smell nice. As it also contains antibacterial and antifungal properties, it can also help further protect and improve your dental health.
Of course, its very friendly price tag is also worth mentioning. It’s not necessarily low-priced compared to drugstore oral care products but it’s still very affordable.
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4.5/5
One of the most popular offerings of one of the most popular all-natural toothpaste brands is the Uncle Harry's Fluoride Free Toothpaste - Peppermint. This item has always been one of the top picks for fluoride-free toothpastes due to its unique and effective formula.
What draws people into this product is its simple formula. It doesn’t contain overly complicated chemicals and components that you can be 100% certain that it doesn’t contain harsh chemicals. Because of this, you can also rest assured that it doesn’t have triclosan, fluoride, carrageenan, SLS, or even any artificial sweeteners.
What exactly does this product contain? It only has nine ingredients which are the following:
Bentonite clay
Calcium carbonate
Colloidal silver water
Sea salt
Ionic minerals
Mustard seed
Peppermint, clove, eucalyptus, oregano, and wintergreen essential oils.
As you would notice, most of them are abrasive. As a result, you can expect this toothpaste to easily scrape off dirt and plaque from the teeth’s surface. The other ingredients, on the other hand, contain antibacterial properties that will help clean the insides of your mouth. Together, you can expect this product to give you a nice and thorough cleaning.
It does more than just clean, however. The minerals included in its formula also promotes tooth enamel remineralization. They also help maintain the natural pH levels inside the mouth. These, in turn, help strengthen and protect your teeth from future damage.
As it doesn’t contain glycerin and other animal-derived ingredients, its classified as a vegan product. Uncle Harry’s also claims to be friendly with all creatures on the planet, it is assumed that it’s a cruelty-free product.
Another thing that sets this product apart from the other items on this list is its container. This toothpaste is not sold in a tube. It’s packaged inside a jar which allows easy access to the product. However, some folks have issues with it since it will need you to dip inside which can then cause product contamination. You can always use a sterile mini spatula to take out the toothpaste, though, to ensure that the remaining product is kept clean.
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4.5/5
Hailed by several beauty experts and thousands of users as one of the best all-natural toothpastes, the Cali White Activated Charcoal & Organic Coconut Oil Whitening Toothpaste certainly deserves a spot in this list. This product combines two of the most potent natural ingredients for oral care, so it might really help make a difference to your smile.
As mentioned above, the combination of activated charcoal and coconut oil can offer a lot to your oral health. Activated charcoal can pull out toxins and scrape off plaque and debris from the teeth surface so it can certainly help clean your oral cavities effectively.
The antibacterial properties of coconut oil also come in handy in preventing excessive bacterial growth inside your mouth. In turn, this can prevent gum diseases and tooth decay.
By having both ingredients in one product, you can definitely improve your oral health without relying on toxic chemicals.
But aside from these two, this Cali White product also contains more natural ingredients that can further boost its effectiveness in caring for your smile. It also has diatomaceous earth, xylitol, peppermint oil, and tea tree oil to further help clean and detoxify the insides of your mouth. With their help, you can get a cleaner and healthier smile.
What makes it a hit, however, is its gentle formula. It’s a popular choice among folks who can’t use chemicals in whitening their teeth. The activated charcoal and clay ingredients in this already prove to be enough to help brighten smiles without causing pains and adverse reactions.
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4.1/5
Those who want to go all out should check out the Redmond Earthpaste All Natural Non-Fluoride Vegan Organic Non GMO Real Ingredients Toothpaste. The product name may not be the most appetizing but it will definitely appeal to those who want the simplest and most natural formula for their oral care products.
Redmond may be one of the trendiest organic toothpaste brands today but its product, the Earthpaste, is worth the hype. It only contains five ingredients: water, essential oils, real salt, xylitol, and, of course, Redmond clay. In the case of one variant, Unsweetened Spearmint, xylitol was taken out of the formula, so you’re even down to four.
With such a simple formula, it’s pretty much one of the most straightforward options. There are no unnecessary ingredients that are added as a preservative or surfactant, so you’ll only really get what your teeth needs. Its key ingredient, Redmond Clay, is a polishing cleanser that’s also been traditionally used to promote digestive health. It also helps balance out the acid levels inside the mouth to ensure its good health.
This is combined with different kinds of essential oils to provide flavor, giving you options to make your brushing experience more enjoyable. All of them have the capability to help clean the insides of your mouth and promote oral health, making each and everyone a good choice.
This formula is also very safe for your health. As it doesn’t contain fluoride, sulfates, parabens, glycerin, and other chemicals, you can be sure that it’s safe to use and maybe even consume. You don’t have to worry about it getting swallowed by you or your child because the ingredients are all safe for your digestive system.
The only thing that might make some people re-consider this product is its appearance. Its earthy color might put some people off. It would be best to know beforehand that it has a greyish brown hue that sorts of resemble cement.
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4.5/5
Completing this list is the FineVine Charcoal Teeth Whitening Toothpaste. With this brand being one of the most popular in the market today, it has certainly proven its worth in many households.
What made FineVine a big hit is its Activated Coconut Charcoal Powder. This product became a popular choice for a natural teeth whitening product for its effectiveness. This toothpaste, however, aims to offer similar results but in an easier to use format. As powders can get messy, toothpaste would be a more convenient option for many.
Like the popular powder, this product also has activated coconut charcoal as its main ingredient. Unlike activated bamboo charcoal, this ingredient also has antibacterial properties, so it can offer a more thorough cleaning of the insides of your mouth. This tends to give this product a leg up in the competition as its main ingredient can already do a lot for its users.
Aside from the activated coconut charcoal, however, this product also contains additional ingredients that can benefit your oral health. It also has diatomaceous earth, baking soda, tea tree oil, coconut oil, xylitol, and peppermint oil. Together, they can further help boost your oral health and fight off tooth decay.