# green tooth brushing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-tooth-brushing/169302 "2003-04-17T14:14:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tom\_Arctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@Tom\_Arctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Arctus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-tooth-brushing/169302/1 "2003-04-17T14:14:04Z")
Other ways of organically cleaning one’s teeth in addition to [those Cecil mentions](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_174b.html) include dipping a wet finger into burnt toast crumbs and rubbing the finger across the teeth, and using a knife to “feather” a stick which is then rubbed across the teeth. The efficacy of these methods compared with using commercially available toothpastes has not been determined, to the best of my knowledge. I’m sticking with Colgate myself. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-tooth-brushing/169302/2 "2003-04-17T15:23:50Z")
Yonks ago, I came across a toothpaste that had no detergents, saccharine, or other yuck. It was baking soda, mint, cinnamon, and chalk. Chalk is much softer than teeth, so it makes for a fairly safe abrasive. It worked well and was no harder to rinse out than commercial toothpaste. Unfortunately, it was decades ago, so I forget the brand. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-tooth-brushing/169302/3 "2003-04-18T05:55:34Z")
It was probably “Tom’s of Maine” which is still widely available.