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By Josh Peterson

We all have mouths, or we at least know someone who does. Our mouths are often filled with dead animal and plant matter. This causes our mouths to smell bad. We do all sorts of things to clean out our mouths, because we have to communicate with them. Our mouths are pulling double duty, triple duty if you play the harmonica. Cleaning your mouth can dirty the planet. Here are some tips for a cleaner mouth and a cleaner planet.

1. Toothpaste.
You can get eco-friendly toothpaste, but it is just as important to use toothpaste sparingly. In the commercials, they coat the entire brush-end with toothpaste, leaving a Christopher-Reeves-as-Superman-spit-curl to cap off the toothpaste heap. Sure, this looks kind of majestic, but the FDA recommends a pea-sized amount. The suggested serving size on the commercials are just too big.

2. Dental Floss.
Most brands do not biodegrade. There are, however, eco-friendly brands that will corrode over time. Eco-Dent makes a line of environmentally friendly oral-care products.

3. Use a waterless pick.
I suffer from gingivitis. I know. I’m gross. But in order to deal with this problem, the dentist recommends a water pick. This is an electronic device that massages your gums with water. It’s a wasteful plastic product that guzzles water and electricity. They make durable gum-massaging picks. The picks are made of metal with a rubber tip. They last can last for years, and you can recycle the metal.

4. Don’t let the dentist put mercury-laden fillings in your mouth.
The FDA kind of flip-flops and drags its feet when it comes to amalgam fillings. The paraphrased word on the street is that these fillings are “probably okay, probably.” Not quite the vote of confidence that I’d like to receive when having possibly harmful materials inserted into my mouth for a lifelong stay.

5. Stop whitening your teeth with strips.
Whitening strips can strip off your tooth enamel and cause early tooth decay. They make your all-natural teeth less sustainable. They also generate heaps of garbage. You are supposed to wear two strips a day. That’s two pieces of hydrogen-peroxide coated trash a day. It’s best just to stay away from stuff like this.

Sourse: planetgreen.discovery.com