Best vegan toothpaste: smile without the guilt

Life Supplies

• Price: Refills from £9.23/100ml
• Type: Fluoride
• Flavours: Mint
• Packaging: Glass bottle and compostable pouches

This refillable toothpaste system from Life Supplies is the first of its kind in the UK to my knowledge. Buy the starter set (from £22) which includes a reinforced glass dispenser, and you can purchase ongoing 65ml refill pouches which are now compostable (not shown). And whilst there were some difficulties with the original dispensers getting blocked, this brand has listened to its customers and upgraded it and the new one works perfectly – it locks for safe travel too, so no toothpaste covered t-shirts in your suitcase!

I find the toothpaste itself is very pleasant to use with a mild mint flavour, each pouch lasts about a month, and it has the dentist recommended levels of fluoride. It is also free from silicone, SLS, parabens and synthetic flavours.

So whilst this toothpaste is one of the more expensive options, you are getting a more sustainable product that gets rid of those unsightly, land-fill filling tubes from your bathroom. Not sure you’re ready to commit? They also do a sample kit if you want to try it out first.

Kingfisher

• Price: £3.69/100ml
• Type: Fluoride & non-fluoride options
• Flavours: Various
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

My toothpaste of choice, this ethical brand offers a very reasonably-priced range of 10 natural toothpastes in both fluoride and fluoride-free versions. Choose from flavours including fennel, baking soda, charcoal, aloe vera and tea tree, or your more traditional mint – an eclectic mix which is great because not everyone likes mint! In fact my husband became a fennel fan after trying it for this trial, and much prefers it to the more standard mint offerings.

I really like this toothpaste (the mint with fluoride is my flavour of choice) and I pick some up whenever I’m passing a Holland & Barrett or a Waitrose, although of course you can also buy it direct from Kingfisher’s online store. If you buy direct, I’d suggest you buy a few tubes to mitigate for the delivery charge, although this is not extortionate. I also like that these are 100ml tubes – many other brands are 75ml or even 50ml and I just seem to get through those so quickly.

As you’d expect from a brand like Kingfisher, the toothpastes are good quality and free from harmful ingredients and this is definitely my recommendation if you want to buy from a company that lives its values. And just to clarify, I receive no payment from this company if you do buy through my link so this is a purely objective view because I think they might just be the best vegan toothpaste brand I’ve found. Oh, and they politely request you not to buy their products through Amazon because their values really don’t align – buy direct using the link below:

Green People

• Price: from £9.06/100ml
• Type: Fluoride (non-fluoride also available)
• Flavours: Mint
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

This small range of lovely natural toothpastes from Green People are all certified as organic and most are vegan. However, avoid their fennel and propolis product because it contains a resin that bees produce to make their hives (and not our oral health products in my opinion!)

That said, this is a company that otherwise feels strongly about its green values (with no animal-testing either), very many of their products are vegan, and it’s easy to filter for on their website. I tried their fluoride free toothpaste although the one pictured is their vegan fluoride product (which I haven’t tried).

The one I have tried is very pleasant and it makes me feel good that I’m using a natural, organic product that is free from synthetic ingredients, but it is more expensive than most so it depends on your budget I guess. For me, there are more reasonably-priced options I would choose that fit more comfortably within my budget even though I appreciate that we should be trying to buy more organic products for the sake of the planet as well as ourselves.

Spotlight

• Price: from £9.50/100ml
• Type: Fluoride – sensitive/cavity/whitening
• Flavours: Mint variations
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

Formulated by dentists, all Spotlight Oral Care’s products contain fluoride. There are 3 different versions that focus on whitening, cavity protection and sensitivity – I tried the ultra whitening toothpaste. Having recently undergone a teeth-whitening process I want to make sure that as an avid coffee and red wine drinker, I don’t have to do it again and this toothpaste certainly seems to be preventing the return of any discolouration very effectively.

It’s not my regular choice of toothpaste though, so I may well not use it all the time. However, to complement them have a range of other products including whitening strips, and interestingly, an anti-stain powder that can be used with your existing toothpaste. I’ll be giving that a try next.

Reassuring to know too that these products are PETA approved, vegan and free from triclosan, SLS and parabens. You can also read my review of their excellent Sonic Pro toothbrush here.

Green People fluoride-free

• Price: from £11.06/100ml
• Type: non-fluoride (fluoride also available)
• Flavours: Peppermint
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

This fresh-tasting, peppermint flavoured toothpaste from Green People is their fluoride free product. It’s only 50ml though and I do feel like I’m constantly opening a new tube because it seems to go so quickly – it feels a bit wasteful somehow. That said, it’s perfectly good in every other respect, claiming to use 100% natural and certified organic ingredients.

It’s worth noting that not all Green People toothpastes are vegan, so make sure you filter their non-vegan products out on their online store. It is also one of the more expensive brands so if money is tight, you may want to look at Kingfisher’s budget-friendly range which includes non-fluoride options.

Personally though, I wouldn’t move over permanently to a fluoride-free toothpaste so if you’d like to know why I’ve decided to stick with fluoride, see my FAQs for more information.

Georganics charcoal

• Price: from £9.78/100ml
• Type: non-fluoride mineral powder
• Flavours: Peppermint
• Packaging: Glass jar

Lots of people rave about charcoal products for teeth and many reviews suggest they are happy with the whitening results from using products like this Georganics mineral toothpowder with activated charcoal. So if those opinions are accurate, then this is a good vegan option that also avoids plastic packaging.

But I must be honest and say that having used it for the purposes of this trial, I didn’t like it. Firstly, it feels quite abrasive and I’m fond of my tooth enamel and don’t want to jeopardise it; secondly, I was really put off by the frothing black paste that it produced inside my mouth. However, I know both of these things are personal and subjective but when I mentioned it to my dentist, he was clearly not a fan of mineral toothpowders either and believes there are many other products that will whiten your teeth more effectively and with less risk.

So I did a bit of digging online too and have referenced some of the articles that I looked at in my FAQs in case you’d like to read more.

All this said, it shouldn’t reflect on Georganics other products which are well worth a look if you want to buy vegan, more sustainable oral hygiene products.

Kingfisher

• Price: £3.69/100ml
• Type: Fluoride & non-fluoride options
• Flavours: Various
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

Well, this brand wins again. Not only do they have an excellent range of fluoride and non-fluoride, flavours, and adult and children’s toothpastes, they are also very good value for money – definitely the most reasonably-priced on this list.

Kingfisher is also a brand with values – the products are natural and the ethos of the business is all about treating the environment, and animals, with respect and care – and you would normally pay more simply because of that. But perhaps because of their values, these products are priced fairly and compare very favourably with many of the much bigger brands in your supermarket.

Best children’s toothpaste

I couldn’t choose between these 2 toothpastes, and nor could my 4 year-old grandson who carried out the testing!

Kingfisher children’s toothpaste

• Price: £3.69/100ml
• Type: Fluoride and non-fluoride options
• Flavours: Strawberry
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

This good quality, natural children’s toothpaste is very competitively-priced and available in 2 versions. There is some research to suggest that before your child’s teeth start to emerge, there may be benefits to using a fluoride-free option although most dentists recommend a fluoride toothpaste once the teeth come through – see my FAQs for a bit more information on that. With this brand, you can choose from both.

With regards to flavour – a big factor with my grandson – I could definitely taste full-on strawberries whereas he thought it was more of a strawberry yoghurt taste. Whichever it is, we both liked it and it was very popular! Anything that makes teeth cleaning a more appealing task has got to be a winner, and this product certainly does that. And you can also feel reassured that the ingredients are balanced, natural and avoid additives and synthetic flavours too.

Green People children’s toothpaste

• Price: from £12.76/100ml
• Type: Fluoride and non-fluoride options
• Flavours: Mandarin & aloe vera
• Packaging: Recyclable tube

This children’s toothpaste from Green People is also available in fluoride and fluoride-free options and both are flavoured with mandarin. This is a more expensive option but perhaps you are paying more for the organic ingredients that this natural product contains.

This was also a big hit with my grandson although I found the sweetness quite intense. But then I’m not the target audience I guess!