Lush Aquatic Toothy Tabs - "solid" toothpaste

If you think that toothpaste has to be "paste", in always the same aluminium/plastic tube, think again. One of the more innovative and atypical products I found on the shelves of a Lush store in Berlin is a small package of Lush Cosmetics Toothy Tabs. Besides being quite interesting, it was also on discount, so I had twice the reason to buy it :).

The first time I saw this box and read "tooth cleaning tabs", it took me five minutes to imagine how to brush my teeth by eating a tablet.

The list of ingredients got me even more confused. Sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid, natural Earl Grey tea. It sounded more like a recipe for some baked rolls than the typical list of ingredients for a toothpaste.

The package contains 40 tabs, one per washing obviously. You should start by crushing the tablet between your teeth. The rough powder mixes with saliva and it starts to foam. Then you keep brushing as usual. It's even better if you wet your toothbrush with water first. Surprising how much foam a sooo small tablet can make :D.

It comes in as many as six different flavours, each also having some variation in the ingredients, mainly the essential oils and fine spices though, which make the aroma. No fluoride - just selected natural substances and a couple of safe others (sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid, dicalcium phosphate). I took Aquatic, a mixture of Jasmin, Lime and hints of Green and Earl Grey tea aromas.

If you prefer the usual pepperminty menthol taste that you get with most ordinary tooth pastes, you probably won't enjoy the tablets that much, because they don't contain this flavour, which I very much appreciate. The Aquatic aroma is quite sweet and sympathic, yet has a little chemical character, but not in a bad way (like baking soda, which again mainly consists of sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid).

Conclusion

Regarding efficiency there is no difference to regular tooth paste - it cleans perfectly, polishes and leaves a nice feeling, I'd even say it does some whitening. The presence of sodium bicarbonate although made me think whether it should be used on a daily base, since it might make teeth sensitive. The absense of fluoride is interesting (many studies talk about fluoride as a poison). However, I'd like to hear some professional opinion about this product, since I'm not a dentist.

My personal impression is that I like them - less aggressive, great results and very suitable for travel :).

Did you ever try this kind of tabs? How much do you care about the ingredients of your tooth paste?