Oral and dental care is not an environmentally-friendly industry, and according to the British Dental Journal the UK alone goes through an astonishing 300 million tubes of toothpaste every year (which is 75,000 kilometres of plastic). On average, each tube needs about 500 years to fully biodegrade, which is ridiculous.
So we were excited when we were contacted by a Dutch company called Smyle that is taking on the waste problems caused by the toothpaste industry. Their goal is to eliminate plastic in oral care, which is highly commendable.
We received a starter pack from them comprising of toothpaste tablets, a glass storage bottle, travel tin, plastic-free floss and a bamboo toothbrush.
Smyle toothpaste tablets
Let’s start with the tablets. You get the option of fluoride or non-fluoride and I opted for fluoride because I think it is essential for good oral health and keeping plaque at bay. When it’s time to brush, you simply pop a tablet in your mouth, chew on it for a few seconds, start brushing with a wet toothbrush and it fully dissolves in a matter of seconds.
These toothpaste tablets are unapologetically minty thanks to their eucalyptus and peppermint formulation, and when you open the package it fills the room with its pleasant, strong aroma. After brushing for a few minutes, when you rinse your mouth out it feels icy cool, and the minty flavour stays in your mouth for about an hour, leaving your mouth feeling very fresh and clean.
As you’d expect, the ingredients are all natural and there are no hidden nasties to harm you or the environment.
Plastic free floss
Floss is another terrible, polluting microplastic product. We’re currently using environmentally-friendly interdental brushes (not made by Smyle), but I was curious to try the floss because it is plastic free. We’ve all been there when using normal floss and it shreds in-between your close teeth, and you probably end up ingesting some of it, which isn’t great for you. This is now far less risky because there’s no plastic in this floss.
The Smyle floss is made from corn polylactic acid (PLA) which makes it compostable. Admittedly, it’s not as strong as its plastic counterpart and it does occasionally snap when it gets stuck between tight teeth, but it’s a small annoyance given that you’re not sending metres of plastic floss to landfill that will take centuries to breakdown.
Bamboo toothbrush
I love the concept of the toothbrush being made from bamboo, but as much as I wanted to love the toothbrush its design and shape wasn’t a great fit for my mouth. When using toothpaste tablets the solution in your mouth is quite runny/watery, which is fine, but because the bristles on this bamboo toothbrush are quite long, along with its shape, it allows the toothpaste solution to dribble out the corner of your mouth, so you have to be over the sink when brushing.
I will caveat this by saying that this was my personal experience and you shouldn’t rule the toothbrush out, because it may be a better fit for your mouth, and it’s so much kinder on the environment when it’s time to replace it.
Closing thoughts
I think Smyle should be commended on their mission to prevent toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and floss from ending up in landfill. While the toothbrush wasn’t for me, I would happily try another bamboo toothbrush again in the future, and the floss is an absolute no-brainer.
While toothpaste tablets may seem weird the first few times you use them, they do dissolve very quickly and they leave your mouth feeling just as fresh and clean as after using conventional toothpaste.
I hope that Smyle consider making different flavours in the future because while their fresh minty flavour is excellent for the morning, I would prefer a more sedate evening flavour (like fennel) before bedtime. Having said that, if a minty flavour is your general go-to, then you’ll love the taste of these toothpaste tablets.
If you’d like to try Smyle’s products, please visit their website and use the voucher code MyHomeFarm30 at checkout to get 30% off your next purchase.