Toothpaste should taste good; and it should taste good because it contains natural, plant-based ingredients. This recipe is super, super easy and inexpensive. Even my youngest children can make it.

I have this weird thing with gagging when I brush my teeth (it’s really bad when I’m pregnant). If I’m brushing my teeth and my husband is at his sink brushing his teeth, and he walks away from the sink, I start gagging. If he starts talking while he’s brushing his teeth, I gag. If the sink starts to fill with water and I see toothpaste floating around in it, I gag. If I think too hard about the fact that I’m brushing my teeth, I gag.

I usually have to just close my eyes and think of something else while I brush. Yeah, I’m a blast at the dentists office.

So, it’s very important to me that toothpaste not only taste good, but that I know the ingredients are wholesome. I don’t want to sit there brushing my teeth, thinking about all the poison I’m probably ingesting.

Read The 5 Hidden Dangers in Toothpaste

My son, William, sweet child that he is, loves my toothpaste! Recently, we had run out of my homemade paste and my husband grabbed an old tube of Tom’s for him to use. William said, “But, Daddy, I want Mommy’s toothpaste!” Yep, and I didn’t pay him a thing.

So, here you go. I’m sharing my recipe. Feel free to tweak it to suit your own tastes; but, since you’re using it in your mouth, please make sure you only use Young Living therapeutic grade essential oils.

Mom’s Homemade Toothpaste

3-4 T. vegetable glycerin (food grade) or coconut oil

6T. Baking Soda (aluminum free)

2 tsp. Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild Liquid Castile Soap (unscented)

4 drops stevia or 1 tsp. xylitol (xylitol is supposed to prevent tooth decay!)

20 drops therapeutic grade peppermint essential oil

1-2 drops therapeutic grade Thieves essential oil blend

If using Xylitol as the sweetener, I mix it with the Castile soap first, so that it has a chance to dissolve. I don’t like my toothpaste to turn out grainy. However, it may be that it would dissolve anyway, I just haven’t taken the chance. Then I mix all the ingredients together with a whisk.

Pour it into a glass jar. Any glass jar will work, even a plain old mason jar; but, a decorative one will make you feel good. 🙂

Okay, here is what slowed me down in getting this post up. I couldn’t find a convenient way of storing my homemade toothpaste. First, I tried a plastic squeeze icing bottle. Then a friend reminded me that it’s not a good idea to store essential oils in plastic. So, I found a really cute glass soap dispenser. Well, the toothpaste was too thick for it, and I almost ruined my dispenser!

I wanted healthy, but I also wanted convenient. Finally, I settled on a cute little glass jar from Hobby Lobby (a mason jar would work too), and I keep a jelly jar filled with Popsicle sticks right beside it for loading the toothbrush (so the contents of the jar don’t get contaminated with bacteria from your toothbrush).

So. there you go. You have no excuse. This takes a total of about 3 1/2 minutes to make, and your kids can help!

Experiment with other essential oils to suit your taste. Suggestions include Clove, Thieves, rosemary, or Spearmint.