For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!
What kind of toothpaste do YOU use, Tamara?
Originally published on March 10, 2017
Updated October 25, 2019
This article is in response to questions from so many of you asking what kind of toothpaste we use in our home.
Please note: I have never claimed to be a toothpaste expert (just a Lead expert!), and this piece discusses my personal choices for my family, based on daily considerations I have as a result of the unique needs of my own children. I completely understand if you make other choices for your children (and I know there are many considerations when it comes to choosing a toothpaste, beyond the concerns for Lead). Regardless of what toothpaste type you use (and what considerations you are juggling in making this decision), it is super important for me to state (and I cannot emphasize this enough) that I strongly discourage any use of any personal care product that is known to contain unsafe levels of Lead (as Earthpaste and other clay-based toothpastes do)!
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Since we have special needs kids (as a result of them being Lead-poisoned as babies) with various issues ranging from Geographic Tongue (with extreme sensitivity to nearly any and all flavors — and especially to anything spicy like mint!) to general Sensory Processing Disorder (which can include gagging with toothbrushing among other “fun” reactions), for the first years of our children’s lives we brushed only with water! Even though my older boys have graduated to toothpaste now, we still use very little toothpaste with each brushing. Typically, a single tube of toothpaste will last us a year (or sometimes two)!
As the kids have grown older — they are now 11, 14, 17, and our oldest is 23 (!) — we’ve worked on introducing toothpaste to their routines, starting with fruit-flavored pastes, and eventually graduating to mint, fennel and cloves. Our youngest child is still not ready for any kind of toothpaste on a regular basis, but our older son unexpectedly liked the clove flavor when he first tried it!
My guidelines for choosing a toothpaste…
For our older boys, as a rule, we stick with toothpastes that:
- is Fluoride-free
- uses all natural ingredients
- is not clay-based (clay-based toothpastes like Earthpaste can have high levels of Lead)
- do not have a “Prop 65” warning on the packaging! (With toothpaste, a prop-65 warning usually means the product has tested positive for Lead.)
All of the toothpastes pictured above here follow these guidelines and are Lead-free.
Dental issues with our kiddos…
Colescott
Our oldest son (who was not Lead-poisoned as a baby, and was not home when his little brothers were poisoned, because he was away at camp) has perfect teeth and has had almost no cavities his entire life (he had only one significant one when he was about 5-years-old).
Alexander (A.J.)
Our second eldest was just about 3-years-old when he was poisoned. His teeth are a mess and he has had a lot of cavities that are not related to his dental hygiene (his hygiene is exceptionally good — a side “benefit” of having children with OCD!). The enamel between his front teeth is unusually soft, an issue caused by the fact that his (at-the-time-of-poisoning) not-yet-erupted adult teeth likely absorbed Lead in the place of Calcium, as they were developing in his skull (since Lead bio-mimics Calcium in the body and is opportunistically absorbed if present when Calcium-rich structures are developing in a child).
Avi
Our third son, who was most significantly Lead-poisoned as a very small baby (he was just 7-months-old when he was poisoned) has not had an unusual number of cavities (given his age at the time of his poisoning — unfortunately, his rapidly developing 7-month-old brain, rather than his teeth, absorbed more of the Lead circulating in his blood). At his most recent checkup he was 100% cavity-free. He also has OCD, and has developed a rather elaborate — and incredibly diligent — toothbrushing/ oral care routine. These are two of the tools he uses every single day to keep his teeth clean:
We use the Sonicare® toothbrushes like this one
(they often have good deals on them at Costco!):
Avi uses the Waterpik® water flosser like this one:
Our youngest son, Charlie, doesn’t usually use toothpaste
Our biggest challenge with my youngest son (and my other sons when they were younger as well) has been the mechanics of tooth brushing like actually needing to still physically brush his teeth for him (and floss his teeth for him) each and every night — even though he is older (ages by which most parents are no longer brushing their kids’ teeth!). It’s exhausting, and causes nightly struggles, however — frankly we’re just happy we’re not wiping our 11-year-old’s bum anymore (something that just changed in the past year)! That’s often the biggest challenge with special needs kids — you have to do many “normal” parenting things for them a lot longer than with neuro-typical kids!
Our focus as parents when it comes to oral hygiene
As a family, we don’t focus so much on toothpaste brands, but instead focus on limiting sugar (we generally don’t have sugar in our home, and also limit other naturally sugary or starchy foods that promote tooth decay)! We focus on the best “implements” of dental care. We use a Sonicare electric toothbrush system (recommended by our dentist), and the kids and my husband also use a gum irrigation system by WaterPik. We also have explored a variety of flossers over the years and found that these work the best for us:
As a side-note, regarding my own preferences… I personally like a simple natural mint toothpaste like the one sold by Miessence.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading and sharing these articles.
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Hi Tamara. I’ve been looking for some toothpastes as well. I haven’t found one I liked yet, but I haven’t been trying hard enough. But one thing I read online is that there could be some toothpastes that have carrageenan in it. I know Toms usually has this ingredient. I read that carrageenan is a carcinogen. I have seen some toothpastes that even indicate “carrageenan free.” Hope that helps.
We’ve used Jack and Jill organic toothpaste for years now, sadly just switched to earth paste but will dispose of that. I”m also starting to make my own as it seems simplest, but having a hard time getting my son to try it.
I just bought the xyliwhite kids toothpaste strawberry flavor and it has a Prop 65 warning. I can’t find any info on it online—you mentioned it’s usually about testing positive for lead? You posted the adult version as not having the 65 warning, though! Thanks for your info!
I just purchased the XyliWhite adult version and it has the prop 65 on it; can you please confirm if it does contain lead or any other heavy metal?
I haven’t done any testing of that brand myself – you would have to contact the company and ask them if they have laboratory testing down to the parts per billion range that they share with customers. Let me know what you find out and I will share it here on the blog too. Given the moisture content of the product I expect it will be negative or very very low positive (single digit ppb at the most.)
Thank you!
Thank you!
This is what I got back; would you still recommend using it?
“Where appropriate, we sticker items sold into the state of California to ensure compliance with Proposition 65, a state labeling law. This warning is specifically regarding to lead.
You may read more regarding Prop65 warning here: https://www.nowfoods.com/now/nowledge/california-residents-proposition-65-warning-faqs
All foods and food ingredients naturally contain tiny amounts of heavy metals from the earth. Our extremely sensitive analytical instruments can detect parts-per-billion (nanograms per gram) levels, so we can’t claim any product to be 100% free of all heavy metals. All of our ingredients and blends are screened for heavy metals to ensure that they meet our strict specifications for safety.
Our specification for lead in the XyliWhite toothpastes is 0-156ppb.
“
Have you heard of oranurse the one they reccomend for special needs kids with sensory issues as it doesn’t foam and its tasteless. I wonder how it fairs on lead. I dont worry about fluoride over here its in our water so not much to do really.
Hi,
I am wondering if anything on the Sonicare toothbrush tests positive for lead. I am particularly interested in the writing at the top of the toothbrush near the brush because that top part of the toothbrush with writing does go in the mouth.
Thank you!
Molly
Hi Tamara I was wondering if you’ve ever heard or tested toothpastes with Hydroxyapatite. They don’t contain fluoride and they say Hydroxyapatite is equal if not better than fluoride. Brands named RiseWell and Boka are very popular ones. They claim to be natural and way better than most toothpastes because they have an anticavity ingredient (hydroxyapatite). Along with all their ingredients being good and natural. Wondering if you know anything about them. I personally use RiseWell and love it so far! Thanks!
I have not tested any of those that I recall.
T
Hi Tamara,
Thank you so much for this site. I have had hair samples that show my high level of lead and then I have and continue to do chelation with my naturopath instructing me. I am trying to rule out all sources of lead and was wondering about my Viajet Pro irrigator that I use after every meal. I religiously use it and thought maybe the motor has some lead in it and then that comes out in the water somehow? I just bought a new one to replace my old one that I’ve had for about three years. I know you aren’t taking items in until you catch up but I have it to send if you think it would be suspect to lead. Thank you again for everything you share.
HI Tamara,
Do you by any chance know about the Waleda Prop 65? I see in some blogs that there is or was one. But i don’t see anywhere this prop 65 (though i don’t live in CA so i might not see it).
Thank you.
No – I not familiar with that. It could be from Titanium Dioxide as an additive.
T
The Now Solutions Xlii-white toothpaste has carrageenan in it, which is also a known carcinogen. Do you have any information on the type and amount used in it?
Thanks for sharing the info. Carrageenan is also an inflammatory; so I avoid it in food and tell others, but I wasn’t aware it was a carcinogen.
Hey there, have you tested the Dental Herb company “Tooth and gums essential” toothpaste? This is the only one I can find that is allergy safe for me.