Instant Organic Toothbrush - Miswak-No Toothpaste Needed: HoarderRehab Review #3

Instant Organic Toothbrush - Miswak - No Toothpaste Needed:  HoarderRehab Review #3

I am so excited!!! I have finally found an instant organic toothbrush!

 In with the New!

photo via Hoarder Rehab, miswak toothbrush, available here

This natural toothbrush twig stick doesn't need toothpaste and is the ultimate environmentally safe eco-friendly biodegradable raw natural earth occurring, green, portable root twig and least expensive toothbrush for my allergies to some plastic ones and allergies to toothpastes!

Below, next to the soap dispenser are the type of  toothbrushes I've been using for the last ten years.  They are small, children's sized "soft" brushes from the Dollar Store.  They've been good to use up until this month.  I don't know what they did to the plastic in them, but now they taste and smell like something toxic to me.

It also gave me noticeable allergic reactions, besides tasting terrible, my tongue would burn and my stomach wasn't well afterwards. I found myself spending less and less time brushing my teeth.

Out with the old!

Since I've been going down memory lane with my teaching props, books and other realia and listed a Valentine's book by Tomie de Paola, it reminded me of his other book, Bill and Pete, where at the end of the book, if I recall correctly, they showed pictures of children brushing their teeth with twigs!

I googled "organic toothbrush" and got this packaged twig and new I was getting closer to what I needed!

This is futuristic packaging from Leen Sadder  for her marketing class with the twig toothbrush, but for me, it doesn't need a cigar cutter, plastic tubing etc.  It doesn't need the soaking in the water like some say or a knife to peel away the bark.  Just chew on the stick which is good for your gums and tooth enamel too!

The last time I looked at organic toothbrushes, which was several years ago, they were disposable bamboo ones and they were expensive!  About $15 dollars each and only last three months.  So I thought we'd get some expensive toothbrushes, but I found these Miswak sticks instead!

In with the new organic easier to use tooth twig sticks!

photo via Hoarder Rehab, miswak toothbrush, available here

I've been using mine for the past three days and I brush my teeth more often because I don't need toothpaste.  I haven't used traditional toothpaste for over 10-20 years due to the fluoride in them.  Tom's of Maine used to have a toothpaste without fluoride, but when they got bought out by Colgate Palmolive they stopped having the toothpaste without fluoride.

My toothpaste alternatives that I used up until three days ago were organic virgin coconut oil, a small chunk of Bonner's peppermint or tea tree oil bar soap, Dr. Schultz's Echannecia plus formula and/or food grade hydrogen peroxide.  My favorite being organic virgin coconut oil because it seemed to do the best job by not only cleaning, but polishing and whitening my teeth.

Side Note:  I have had very yellow teeth since being a child and my dentist has told me it's due to all the fluoride treatments I had as a child!  Many of the articles I've read in the past about fluoride is that it's basically the byproduct of the aluminum and industrial fertilizers, so they've added it to our water and toothpaste to use it up!

PROS:

1.  It cleans my teeth, like I've seen my dental hygienist to get my teeth cleaned!  Yes, my teeth feel clean, fresh, smooth and polished!

2.  Green product, no filling the landfills with three month old toothbrushes--- just imagine how many toothbrushes that is per household!

3. it's more than biodegradable because nothing will be left, but a tiny stub which you can chew up and spit out into your compost!

4.  no toothpaste needed.  It has it's own toothpaste of natural occurring antibacterial disinfectant, anti plaque agents

5.  It's small enough to reach all areas of my teeth and I can choose to have short or long bristles

6.  It has the potential to save me a lot of time and money with dental professionals.

7.  kids will look like Grandpa smoking his cigar, but be brushing their teeth

8.  tastes like mild horseradish mixed with cinnamon-- which took me one day to get used to considering I use Bonner's bar soap as toothpaste and that took a month to get used to!  Three days later it doesn't have a taste to me.

CONS:

1.  tastes like mild horseradish mixed with cinnamon

2.  not easily accessible from any regular local stores

3.  costs more than a Dollar Store toothbrush, except perhaps bought in bulk.  Ours initially cost $2 each, including shipping, but we received expired tooth sticks and were given a total refund.

OTHER "SUPPOSED" MIRACLES

1.  Makes your teeth whiter.

2.  Keeps them so clean without plaque you don't need to floss anymore!

3.  Heals caries or cavities.

4.  Too many others to list!

My dental bad news:
My dentist told me as a baby, I must have almost died from a high fever and that is why some of my molars were formed without the inside.  They were filled and by high school or college the fillings would give way and I'd need crowns.

When I was a teenager my dentist told me I had too much fluoride and were missing several layers of enamel that made my teeth look more yellow.  Also that I had weak teeth that cracked easily.  He also said there was nothing I could do about the yellowing or lack of enamel.  I wonder if the Miswak will whiten and strengthen them.

My dental good news:  I have no caries or cavities, but I do have a several chipped teeth!  I will monitor my chipped molar that gets black plaque on it and see if it heals itself.

Here it is with it's packaging from ebay:

Interesting Information I found:

1. Miswak is also called:  miswaak, siwat, sewak, a teeth cleaning twig made from a twig of the Salvadora Persica tree, also known as the arak tree or the peelu tree.

American Indians used fresh bark from the prickly ash tree to clean their teeth. The sap from this tree kills bacteria. Mojave Desert Indians used twigs from the cresote bush and rural villagers in India used the neem tree.

2.  They've been used for over 6000 years!  Toothbrushes of bone and hog hair, horse hair or boar hair have been found since the Tang Dynasty in China from 619-907.  Why, I ask myself, why?

3.  Other woods that might be used for stick brushing: Salvadora persica, Sassafras, Dakhaar Gum tree,
Tea Tree, Neem, Gouania lupuloides, Cinnamon, Dogwood, Olive, Walnut and other trees with bitter roots.
3.  Research in Miswak's favor:

The Wrigley Company made a study on Miswak which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The study found that mints laced with Miswak extract were 20 times more effective in killing bacteria than ordinary mints. A small testimony to this fact is that after half an hour, the mints laced with Miswak extract killed about 60% of the bacteria where as the ordinary mints managed only 3.6%

In the August issue of Journal of Periodontology (2008) appeared a study conducted by Swedish researchers on Miswak. The study apparently found that suspended Miswak pieces in a petridish (medium for culturing bacteria) were able to kill bacteria that cause periodontal disease with out being in physical contact with the bacteria. The researchers suggested that Miswak might be giving antibiotics as gases trying to explain this phenomenon.

A study which compares toothbrushing and using Miswak (Miswak ing!) can be seen on Pubmed (U.S National Library for Medicine Service). The study concluded that Miswak was more effective than toothbrushing in reducing plaque and gingivitis provided it was used correctly. Similar studies found on the same website and elsewhere vouch for the effectiveness of Miswak over toothbrush.

A study conducted by a group of dentists at King Saud University concluded that using Miswak was at least as good as tooth brushing, if not better. There have been plenty of published studies on Miswak and infact entire books published which study its oral and systemic benefits.  Info. from ASK

4.  A You tube of someone preparing and using one here.  I didn't soak it in water and just chewed off the bark until I had bristles.  It took me less than five minutes to prepare it for brushing.

5.  The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of the miswak in 1986 and in 2000 an international consensus report on oral hygiene concluded that further research was needed to document the effect of the miswak.  Info from wiki

Thank you US, Germany, Australia, UK, Italy and Poland for joining me today as my adventure with HoarderRehab: The Destiny of Things brings me closer to my dream of a minimalist organic home with miswak, an organic instant toothbrush stick!

I hope you are as excited as I am and will comment or email your Miswak experience!

UPDATE:  I Still Love My Miswak Toothbrush Update HERE!

UPDATE:  As of January 21, 2014, they are available at our Etsy shop, Hoarder Rehab, here! and The Destiny of Things, here!

Post Notes:  I have tried several things for better dental hygiene.  I've experimented off and on with different oils for oil pulling for durations of over 3 months at a time.  I didn't see any benefits and it took a lot of time.  Best foods for my teeth that I've noticed for myself are raw fermented vegetables, coconut kefir, coconut yogurt and Raw Vitamin Code calcium taken with Magnesium Calm.