Chewable Toothpaste Tablets?
I had a patient ask me about 6 months ago if I had ever heard of ‘little toothpaste tablets that come in a glass jar’. It was the first I had heard of it. After work I went home and did some research. I immediately found the product she was talking about and after that it continued to pop up in my social media feeds.
The product, called Bite toothpaste Bits, is a small tablet that is stored in a glass bottle. You put one tablet in your mouth, wet your toothbrush and brush your teeth.
The company claims that the tablets are gluten free, cruelty free and vegan. They report that they follow all FDA guidelines in creating the products and they provide their ingredient list. These tablets do not contain fluoride but do contain xylitol which is a natural product harvested from birch trees or plant fiber. Xylitol does work to fight cavities by starving the plaque in the bacteria that causes cavities.
There are so many ‘natural’ health products on the market these days. It is great to push for change in industries to work towards a better environment and overall health. The problem is that there is no long term research to prove if this product can help maintain oral health. Dental professionals recommend products with evidence based research so that we are aware of the outcomes. That being said this Bite product has sold 8 million units since August so hopefully we will be provided with more long term studies within the next few years to determine if this is a safe and effective alternative for your oral health.
Sources:
Bite Toothpaste Bits. <https://bitetoothpastebits.com/>. Accessed. Feb 21st, 2019.
Xylitol and Oral Care. <https://odha.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ODHA-Facts-xylitol.pdf> Accessed Feb 21st, 2019.
Is Xylitol Natural or Artificial?. <https://xylitol.org/xylitol-artificial-natural/> Accessed Feb 21st, 2019.