# Can carrots and celery be used as an alternative to brushing teeth?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-carrots-and-celery-be-used-as-an-alternative-to-brushing-teeth/303972>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 15, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-carrots-and-celery-be-used-as-an-alternative-to-brushing-teeth/303972 "2005-05-15T22:07:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-carrots-and-celery-be-used-as-an-alternative-to-brushing-teeth/303972/21 "2005-06-03T00:07:48Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Are you sure about the oxalic acid thing - I know that’s present in rhubarb and sorrel, but I thought potato greens were toxic because of solanine.

Even if I had been sure, seeing you disagree would have made me doubt myself.

I checked Google. Green potatoes contain solanine. One more thing my father told me as a child that wasn’t true.

:: sigh ::

Nevertheless, the primary toxin in nightshade is atropine. That’s not present in green potatoes, not to a significant degree, anyway.

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**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-carrots-and-celery-be-used-as-an-alternative-to-brushing-teeth/303972/22 "2005-06-03T01:54:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> In different documentaries I’ve seen about aid organizations in third world countries, the aid workers teach the locals to chew on the end of a stick until it starts to tear apart and become “brush”-like. They are then instructed to brush their teeth with the chewed end of the stick.

This is a common practice among more devout Muslims. I’ve tried it, and it actually does work, though if you chew too much you’ll wind up with a bunch of little wooden shards in your mouth.

> [@](#):
>
> What is that feeling in my mouth after I eat those two veggies? I have heard that a very close relative of those veggies are very poisonous, is this true? I feel like nature is trying to tell us something with that tingling… oh but that is absurd!

If your mouth is tingling after you eat carrots, you might want to stop eating them and have yourself tested to see if you’re allergic to them. Carrot allergies are one of the more common food allergies, and tingling mouth/lips is a common reaction to eating them.

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