In Your Mouth! Brushes and Pastes on the Cheap

My favorite tooth brush and paste! I have uncovered two oral hygiene products that I really like.

Fuchs Ecotec Toothbrush - $3.35

I used to use Preserve Toothbrushes because they were recycled and come with a bag to send used brushes back to the company. But even then you're wasting a perfectly good handle and transporting it over a long distance twice. Now I'm using Fuchs Ecotec brushes. You keep the handle and replace the brush head. The brush head is atypically small but after using it for a while I don't consider this a fault because you get a more detailed brushing. Also, prior to using them I worried that the brush head would fall out while brushing but this has never happened. Note: Vitacost only sells these in one color which sucks for family use. We use colored rubber bands to differentiate.

• PROS: Replaceable Brush Heads; super cheap at Vitacost ($3.35 for a brush and two additional replacement heads; $3.32 for a pack of 4 brush heads); less materials wasted to brush your teeth; recycled packaging; hilarious brand name.

• CONS: Packaging is still excessive

Auromere Herbal Toothpaste with Cardamom-Fennel - $3.34

This toothpaste is like a Chai tea party in your mouth. I. Love. It. I love the taste, I love the after taste. My mouth feels squeaky clean. I've stopped using mouthwash because I don't feel like I need it (or the expense). I can't do the product description justice so here it is:

Auromere's non-foaming Ayurvedic formula contains no Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. It combines the natural tooth whitening fiber Peelu with the astringent and invigorating properties of Neem and 21 other barks, roots, plants and flowers that have been esteemed for centuries by Ayurvedic specialists for their separate and combined efficacy in maintaining superior dental hygiene.

Regular use gently and naturally cleans and polishes teeth to their whitest, invigorates and soothes sensitive gums, and purifies the mouth and breath.

Ingredients: Fine chalk (a gentle cleanser), glycerine (from vegetable oil), purified water, herbal extract blend: [Neem (azadirachta), peelu (salvadora persica), Indian licorice root, pomegranate rind, common jujube, rose apple, clove, Persian walnut, barleria prinoitis bark (vajradanti), Indian almond, bedda nut, Asian holly oak, prickly ash, zanthoxylum alatum (tejbal), sappan wood, catechu, Bengal madder, acacia arabica bark (babul), sarsaparilla, cinnamon, medlar, mayweed and bishop's weed (flower extract)], silica, carrageenan (from seaweed), cellulose gum (from plants), fennel oil, cardamom oil. Not tested on animals.

You can buy this DAMN GOOD toothpaste for $3.34 at Vitacost.