Homemade Toothpaste & Powder with Bentonite Clay & Essential Oils

QUICK SUMMARY

To make homemade toothpaste, process ⅓ cup bentonite clay, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon stevia powder, and ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt in a food processor, then add 10 drops of essential oils (peppermint is our go-to) and store the tooth powder in a glass jar. For a paste, stir in ¼ cup hot purified water and 1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil. It is fluoride-free, SLS-free, and free of artificial sweeteners, and it costs a fraction of store-bought natural toothpaste.

There are many kinds of all-natural toothpaste on the market, but they can quickly put a dent in your wallet! My Homemade Toothpaste Recipe with Essential Oils freshens your mouth without the toxins. Our family loves using this tooth powder to create a healthy, clean mouth.

This recipe contains bentonite clay, which is excellent for helping cleanse the mouth. Don’t worry; when sweetened with stevia and flavored with essential oils, this toothpaste tastes great!

This is Biblical health in action. We steward the body God gave us by paying attention to the small daily habits that add up over time, and brushing your teeth is one of those faithful little choices that can bless your health for years.

Homemade Toothpaste Recipe

This DIY is easy to make! In just minutes, you’ll be ready to detox your mouth naturally.

Homemade Tooth Powder and Toothpaste

Author Mama Z

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Quantity

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• 10 drops essential oils*
• ⅓ cup bentonite clay**
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon organic stevia powder
• ¼ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt or sea salt, finely ground

Supplies

• 1 glass mixing bowl
• 1 6-8 ounce glass jar for storage

Instructions

 

• Mix your essential oils in a small glass bowl and set aside.
• Put the bentonite clay, baking soda, stevia, and sea salt in the food processor and process until combined.
• With the machine running, add the essential oils and process for a few more seconds. The mixture should be granular and slightly damp.
• Store in a glass jar with a lid.
• Apply enough to cover your toothbrush. Wet with water and brush as normal.

Notes

Toothpaste Variation: To make the tooth powder into toothpaste, add ¼ cup hot purified OR distilled water AND 1 tablespoon coconut oil, extra-virgin AND unrefined, plus more as needed.

To add teeth whitening benefits, open capsules of activated charcoal into the tooth powder. Be sure to follow by brushing with mouthwash and brush your teeth again after using mouthwash.

Bentonite clay can react with metal, so be sure to make and store this recipe in a glass container.

*Essential Oils Blends for Tooth Powder and Toothpaste

• Bergamot, grapefruit, lemon
• Clove, peppermint, spearmint, sweet or wild orange
• Cinnamon bark of cinnamon leaf, clove, sweet or wild orange
• Frankincense, lime, myrrh
• Peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen
• Cinnamon, chamomile, lavender, oregano, peppermint, thyme
• Roman chamomile, spearmint, wintergreen

**For sensitive teeth, reduce baking soda to ½ teaspoon.

To make the tooth powder into toothpaste, add ¼ cup hot purified OR distilled water AND 1 tablespoon coconut oil, extra-virgin AND unrefined, plus more as needed.

To add teeth whitening benefits, open capsules of activated charcoal into the tooth powder. Use activated charcoal occasionally, not daily, because a 2023 systematic review found charcoal toothpastes highly abrasive to enamel (1). Be sure to follow by brushing with mouthwash and brush your teeth again after using mouthwash.

Bentonite clay can react with metal, so be sure to make and store this recipe in a glass container.

Step One: Mix the Essential Oils

Mix the essential oils of choice in a small glass container or glass measuring cup and set aside.

Step Two: Add Dry Ingredients

Put the bentonite clay, baking soda, stevia, and sea salt in the food processor and process until combined.

Step Three: Add Essential Oils

With the machine running, add the essential oils and process for a few more seconds. The mixture should be granular and slightly damp.

Step Four: Brush Your Teeth

Store in a glass jar with a lid. To use, apply just enough of the homemade tooth powder or toothpaste recipe to cover your toothbrush. Wet with water and brush as usual.

Best Essential Oils for Homemade Toothpaste

Many essential oils have antimicrobial properties, which makes them perfect for toothpaste when they are properly diluted and used wisely. A 2025 meta-analysis found that essential oil mouthwash, with or without alcohol, improved plaque and gingivitis (2). In oral care you only need a small amount, so stick to the 10 drops in the recipe card.

Here are some of my favorite combinations.

• Peppermint: Fights halitosis, smells fresh, and gives you a burst of energy in the morning!
• Clove and Orange: An excellent blend for sensitive teeth. Clove is very potent, so use it carefully and avoid overdoing it.
• Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and Orange: Use these oils for a fresh, clean feeling and a brighter smile routine.
• Lime, Lemon, and Grapefruit: All of these oils are great mood boosters! Use citrus oils sparingly in oral care and always rinse well.
• Wintergreen: Minty-fresh and excellent for stubborn halitosis. It is rich in methyl salicylate, an aspirin-like compound, so leave it out of any batch for children, during pregnancy, or if you take blood thinners or are sensitive to aspirin.

Application: Choose one blend per batch. For children, make a separate jar with the gentlest oils, such as sweet orange, and skip wintergreen and clove; keep peppermint out of the jar for children under three.

Natural Oral Health Ingredients

There’s a better way to take care of your teeth, and it all starts with natural, non-toxic ingredients.

Bentonite Clay: Bentonite clay comes from volcanic ash. It is naturally absorbent and gives this tooth powder a smooth, mineral-rich texture. Choose a reputable source that tests for heavy metals. Bonus: it gently polishes the look of teeth.

Baking Soda: Baking soda is a classic oral care ingredient. A systematic review found that baking soda toothpastes removed plaque effectively in single-use studies (3). For sensitive teeth, cut it to ½ teaspoon.

Stevia Powder: Stevia is an all-natural sweetener that neutralizes the taste of bentonite clay. A little goes a long way!

Himalayan Pink Salt: Saltwater is usually recommended after dental surgery to keep the mouth clean, and a randomized trial in schoolchildren found that a salt water rinse reduced plaque and oral microbes (4). Salt is highly effective against halitosis, and Himalayan salt can help ease sensitive teeth.

Distilled Water: Tap water can contain fluoride, an ingredient many families choose to avoid. I recommend distilled or purified water for the paste variation. Ours hooks right up to the tap and gives us clear, crisp water.

3 Harmful Ingredients in Toothpaste

We need to take extra caution with oral care products because we end up swallowing small amounts of them, and children swallow more. Here are three ingredients in many tubes of toothpaste that our family avoids.

1. Fluoride

Fluoride is in most conventional toothpaste and many community water supplies, and it is biologically active. In 2024 the National Toxicology Program concluded, with moderate confidence, that fluoride exposure above 1.5 mg/L in drinking water is associated with lower IQ in children (5).

Swallowing a large amount of fluoride toothpaste can cause vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, a slow heart rate, tremors, and weakness (6). If you have little ones at home, this matters! Kid-friendly flavors lead little ones to use too much or eat it, which is one reason we choose fluoride-free toothpaste and supervise brushing.

2. Aspartame

You wouldn’t dream of brushing your teeth with sugar, so some companies use artificial sweeteners like aspartame instead. In 2023 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (7), and the World Health Organization advised against using non-sugar sweeteners to control weight or prevent disease (8). That is enough for us to say, “No thank you.”

In this recipe, we use stevia as a sweetener. It tastes better than aspartame, and a little goes a long way!

3. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

This is what gives you a mouthful of foam. Sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS, is a harsh surfactant, and it can irritate the delicate tissue of your mouth.

It can also make canker sores worse. A systematic review found that people prone to recurrent canker sores had shorter, less painful ulcers when they switched to SLS-free toothpaste (9), and a 2023 review details its other side effects on oral tissue (10). If you struggle with canker sores, burning mouth, or irritation after brushing, SLS is one of the first ingredients to remove.

The Importance of Oral Health

Oral health is an integral part of abundant living, and this small area can impact your entire body. Gum disease is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, and the American Heart Association has described the pathways: bacteria entering the bloodstream, infection of blood vessels, and body-wide inflammation (11). There’s even a link between bacteria in the mouth and thickened arteries (12).

You can avoid many dental interventions with a bit of preventive care. Remember the basics:

Brush your teeth– Brush after meals when practical and at least twice a day for two minutes (13). Take your time so food particles are gone.

Floss regularly– Flossing removes stubborn food from between your teeth and stimulates your gums. I recommend flossing at night when you’ve finished eating.

Oil pulling – Have you ever tried oil pulling? A 2022 meta-analysis found it reduced the bacteria count in saliva (14). Learn how to start oil pulling today.

Go to the dentist– Did you know there are holistic dentists? They combine conventional treatment with natural options and are more likely to offer alternatives to procedures like mercury fillings. Don’t skip your dentist appointments!

Use essential oils for oral health – Some essential oils are proven to help support good oral hygiene. These are the EOs to use in homemade oral products like this toothpaste recipe or a mouthwash DIY.

Do Homemade Toothpaste Recipes Work?

Yes. Homemade toothpaste works when you use it consistently with good brushing: it removes food debris and plaque, freshens breath, and keeps synthetic fragrance, artificial sweeteners, and foaming agents out of your mouth.

No toothpaste, homemade or store-bought, can overcome a high-sugar diet, poor brushing habits, or skipped dental care. If you are cavity-prone or have active gum disease, ask your dentist about hydroxyapatite toothpaste; a 2024 meta-analysis found that hydroxyapatite helps prevent cavities without fluoride (15).

How to Use and Store Homemade Toothpaste

Use just enough to cover the bristles of your toothbrush and brush gently for about two minutes. Scrubbing hard with any powder can irritate gums and wear enamel.

Store the tooth powder in a glass jar with a tight lid, and keep water out of the jar. If you make the paste, mix small batches and watch for any change in smell or texture.

Do not dip a wet toothbrush into the shared jar. Use a clean spoon to scoop the powder onto your toothbrush so it stays fresh for the whole family.

Homemade Toothpaste FAQs

What is the best homemade toothpaste recipe?

The best homemade toothpaste uses a few gentle, recognizable ingredients. Ours combines bentonite clay, baking soda, Himalayan salt, stevia, and essential oils into a fresh, non-toxic tooth powder that turns into a paste with water and coconut oil.

Can homemade toothpaste clean teeth?

Yes. Baking soda toothpastes remove plaque, and essential oils improve plaque and gingivitis, when used with consistent brushing and flossing.

Does this homemade toothpaste contain fluoride?

No. This recipe is fluoride-free. If you are cavity-prone, ask your dentist about hydroxyapatite, a fluoride-free option with clinical evidence for preventing cavities.

Can kids use this homemade toothpaste?

Yes, with a gentler batch. Use the mildest oils, skip wintergreen and clove, keep peppermint out for children under three, supervise brushing, and teach children to spit instead of swallow.

Can I add activated charcoal to this recipe?

Yes, for occasional whitening, but not daily, because charcoal toothpastes are highly abrasive.

Should homemade toothpaste replace dental visits?

No. See your dentist for regular cleanings and anytime you have pain, bleeding gums, a loose tooth, or ongoing sensitivity.

Keep reading: 12 Toxic Skincare Ingredients to Avoid · Homemade Deodorant With Essential Oils and Natural Ingredients · Homemade Body Powder Recipe