Best Natural Toothpaste

Natural toothpastes come in a variety of flavours and options.

In this post I look at the best natural toothpaste in various categories, and recommend some products you can trust.

If you don’t need a natural toothpaste specifically, you may find our more generalised best toothpaste article more helpful.

And to see our full range of toothpaste content, visit our toothpaste hub page, which lists all of our content in an easy-to-find format.

What does natural mean to you?

Regardless of whether you have a health reason for wanting to avoid certain ingredients, or whether your ethical beliefs mean that you are looking for an alternative toothpaste – there are an increasing number of toothpastes being marketed as natural.

But “natural toothpaste” can have a few different meanings, including:

• Avoiding unnecessary chemicals and artificial ingredients.
• Avoiding fluoride.
• Searching for naturally derived and naturally sourced ingredients.
• Searching for ethically sourced ingredients and processes.
• Searching for toothpastes that take the planet into consideration. 
• Wanting a herbal toothpaste.

In Canada, these products may be subject to Natural Health Products Regulations, depending on the claims made by the product. There is even the Licensed Natural Health Products Database for products that have received a license from Health Canada. Not all “natural” toothpastes will fall under this category, as some may still be counted as a cosmetic or an over the counter drug, depending on ingredients. Likewise, some toothpastes that use “natural” ingredients may not fit into the idea of a natural toothpaste.

Generally speaking, though, a natural toothpaste will aim to avoid foaming agents like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), or artificial colours and sweeteners. They may also be preservative free. Although having one of these types of ingredients may not necessarily prevent a toothpaste from making it to this list of best natural toothpastes, if you are specifically looking for an SLS free toothpaste, see our article on the best SLS-free toothpastes.

For some people, they search out a natural toothpaste because of concerns about fluoride. Some of the natural toothpastes on this page will still contain fluoride as this is the only ingredient proven to help prevent cavities, and is the key ingredient recommended by almost all dentists. But some of the toothpastes may contain an alternative – such as calcium phosphate – which can also protect the teeth against decay but is not yet widely available.

Another reason someone may turn to natural toothpaste is in search of a more responsible toothpaste or brand. Natural toothpastes will often have organic ingredients (such as those approved by COS), and will try to meet high ethical concerns such as avoiding animal ingredients, being vegan and being cruelty free.

Finally, when searching for natural toothpastes, you may also be thinking about sustainability, both when it comes to sourcing ingredients and in the packaging used. This is still an area requiring development as many toothpastes still come in plastic packaging, with few alternatives available for those who are eco-conscious.

The best natural toothpaste: 3 good options

The natural toothpastes included on this page have been selected using the criteria below: 

• Contain fluoride or other remineralising ingredients (continue reading to find out why.) If non-fluoride is what you are looking for I have these covered later on in the article).
• Preferably contain herbal ingredients, avoid SLS, parabens and preservatives.
• Have a small ingredients list.

If you are choosing your own toothpaste, I recommend factoring the above points in as well as the general advice on choosing a toothpaste from our toothpaste hub page.

I have not focussed these toothpastes to be vegan, whitening, or for a specific problem such as sensitivity. But if they meet these criteria, it’s a bonus. If you want a toothpaste that specifically meets these criteria you can check the table further down the page.

Natural fluoride free toothpastes

Whilst I don’t recommend fluoride free toothpaste, as you miss out on the known anti-cavity properties of fluoride, I respect that some people may still wish to avoid toothpastes containing fluoride. 

In which case, there are two main options available to you:

1. A natural fluoride free toothpaste that contains no fluoride and no major source of remineralizing agent. Whilst ingredients like xylitol have a small anti-cavity effect, it would not be enough to be remineralizing in the same way as fluoride.
2. A natural fluoride free toothpaste that contains no fluoride and which does contain an alternative remineralizing agent. Calcium phosphates (such as hydroxyapatite) help reharden the tooth surface in a similar way to fluoride. These ingredients are newer than fluoride and are still undergoing long term studies, but have been FDA approved. They are normally more expensive than fluoride, but there is lots of evidence supporting their effectiveness.

My main recommendation for a fluoride free natural toothpaste is listed here, and if you look in the list of other natural toothpastes below, I have noted some others that include fluoride alternatives.

Organic natural toothpastes

I have listed some organic natural toothpastes in the list below.

There is actually no evidence to support whether an organic toothpaste is better for your oral health than a regular toothpaste. A natural toothpaste is not automatically organic and vice versa.

One advantage of organic is the stricter environmental controls when growing ingredients. This may be something of interest to you if you are choosing a toothpaste with minimal environmental impact. 

However, there is no one specific law or definition for natural and organic relating to cosmetic products. There are general laws surrounding advertising and claims that should reassure you, but you will need to do some research to check your product is what it says it is.

Some standards to look at include COSMOS and NaTRUE.

To provide some context, the following labels may be seen:

• “100 percent organic.” A product with this label must contain only organically produced ingredients, with the exception of water and salt.
• “Organic.” At least 95 percent of the product’s ingredients must be organically produced to earn this label, excluding water and salt.
• “Made with organic ingredients.” This label applies to products containing between 70 to 95 percent organically produced ingredients.
• “Organic [ingredient].” Products made with less than 70 percent organically produced ingredients.

Herbal or natural toothpaste?

Whilst a natural toothpaste would look to avoid artificial ingredients, and will likely go for naturally sourced or naturally derived ingredients, they may still have a relatively long list of ingredients.

If you are wanting a super simple toothpaste, with ingredients that are as close to their natural form as possible, you may choose a herbal toothpaste.

It is also possible to get toothpastes which aren’t branded as natural, but which use herbal ingredients to have a positive effect on the gums or teeth.

FAQ

What is meant by naturally sourced?

Ingredients that are minimally processed or altered after being sourced from nature.  They may have some processing, but the final product is still very similar to the original ingredient. This might include essential oils for example.

What is meant by naturally derived?

Naturally derived ingredients are not made artificially, but they have undergone quite extensive changes from the original ingredient. This may be to make the ingredient safer or more useful. An example of this could be xylitol derived from birch trees.

What is a vegan toothpaste?

The Vegan Society explains “vegans avoid exploiting animals for any purpose”. Vegan products will avoid animal product, by-product or derivative. They also avoid products tested on animals. Vegan toothpastes can be recognised by the presence of the Vegan Society trademark (although not all vegan products will have this).

What is the difference between a vegan toothpaste and a cruelty free toothpaste?

A cruelty free toothpaste should not have been tested on animals. And if they are “Leaping Bunny” certified there will have been no animal testing at any point during process. This does not necessarily mean that the product does not contain animal derived products.

Should I be avoiding SLS?

Not necessarily. There are some people who may find some relief of ulcers when switching to an SLS free toothpaste, but most people would not know the difference whether their paste contains SLS or not (apart from the amount of foaming).

Why do your Best 5 all contain fluoride?

Fluoride is a well-known and well-tested ingredient, proven to help protect teeth against cavities. As such, most recommended toothpastes will contain fluoride.