Pearly Whites

Keeping teeth clean and shining is a daily beauty essential, but unfortunately you'd struggle to find a single product not tested on animals or owned by a consumer giant in the dental aisle. I have to travel a little further than the supermarket for my teeth staples, but I've discovered some natural and vegan alternatives that keep my pearly whites white.


In the essence of being thorough, I even like to choose my toothbrush wisely and get mine from my local Co-op. The Co-op is fantastic for their animal welfare and ethical trading. They are the largest retailer to exclusively sell free range eggs and have a stringent non animal testing policy for their own brand products. Furthermore, all of their toiletries and household products are independently verified and accredited by BUAV (the leaping bunny below which campaigns agaisnt cruel cosmetics). I therefore love to support my local branch whenever I can and am pleased to say that their manual toothbrushes are just to my taste.

I prefer a fairly tough bristle and this simple medium toothbrush (available in a range of colours) is perfect. I can really feel it working, unlike a soft bristle brush, one of which I was using previously. It can take a couple of days to get used to, especially for those with sensitive gums, but if you persevere your gums will truly benefit from a gentle, healthy brush. I can also feel the bristles penetrate down between each tooth and they're great at lathering up my toothpaste for an all-over mouth freshness.

I have a feeling that I'll be buying this toothbrush again and again and remember - your mouth is regularly full of bacteria so I would recommended getting a new brush every few months.

I can't remember the price or exact name of this brush, but I would hazard a guess at around £2 to £3.

 A friend of mine recommended the next product I'm about to discuss: Sarakan Toothpaste. He told me an intriguing story of a travelling doctor who noticed that, despite a bad diet, his patients in India had great dental health. He discovered that many had been using a 'chewing stick' to clean their teeth and gums from a shrub known as the Salvadora persica, which has since been promoted by the World Health Organization for oral hygience. This toothbrush tree is the main ingredient of Sarakan: nature's toothpaste.

Although it did work a treat at keeping my teeth clean and white, the taste and texture really does take some getting used to. To put it in perspective, I was woken up one night after my dad chose to borrow my tooth paste by his yells of disgust, the sound of him spitting it out and rinsing his mouth. After a few days it is bearable and not as bad as I have made it sound, but it is still very grainy, rather than smooth, and does taste natural (unforunately in a bad way) - like fennel or aniseed. I'm sorry to say that I won't be repurchasing it myself, but the main reason is that it doesn't contain fluoride. The fluoride debate will continue to rage, but my dentist insists that, bearing in mind my vegan diet, it is an aboslute essential for keeping teeth healthy and is a must for preventing tooth decay.

If you're agaisnt fluoride, I wouldn't want to put you off from giving it a go. Sarakan also do a mouthwash which I'm interested in trying, but for now I have found another toothpaste which I much prefer.

Suitable for vegans and vegetarians. £2.29 from Holland & Barrett.

 The tooth paste I do love and use daily is Kingfisher Toothpaste. Described as the UK's leading natural toothpaste, Kingfisher contains no artificial colourings, flavourings, sweeteners or preservatives. It's also gluten-free, GM free and is made in Britain.

Best of all though - it not only tastes as great as toothpaste could taste, but no animals are harmed in the production of Kingfisher toothpaste and no animal testing is undertaken at any stage. It has also been named PETA's Best Cruelty-Free Toiletries and Beauty Product. It is, too, the toothpaste with the highest ethical rating.

It is made with natural ingredients, including fennel, lemons and peppermint and comes in 7 variants. I buy the mint (with fluoride) variety and it is just a dream to use. It is very smooth across the teeth, lathers up well and tastes subtly, not aggressively, minty.

It also carries the BDHF (British Health Foundation) logo so is recognised for its effectiveness at cleaning teeth so you don't need to worry that by choosing to go natural, you loose any benefits of the mainstream products.

Suitable for vegans and vegetarians and available from Holland & Barrett, Waitrose and independent chemists. £2.85 for 100 ml tube

I felt very lost as a vegan wandering down the dental aisle so I hope this helps. There are options out there if you look!