O.K., so no blog in a month and all I can think to write about is toothpaste? Well, I was pretty impressed by this one, so I thought I would give it a go. First of all, I took Mackenzie and Megan to a dentist for the first time ever. Catherine McKinley is a pediatric dentist who practices both in the medical center and in leon springs. Loved her. She came recommended by Danette Bertschy. Thanks Danette!
They had a flat screen t.v. at every “station” which was right up Mackenzie’s alley and Megan (who could care less about t.v.), warmed up to Dr. McKinley after watching Mackenzie go. It was very interesting to say the least. Mackenzie, like her dad, got an A+ for clean teeth and excellent oral hygiene. (I think some people just get great saliva or something) and Megan got a B- (my grade) as they said she lacked the coordination to brush as well as they liked and needed a cleaning right that minute.
The interesting thing for me was how much they pushed xylitol. They sell xylitol toothpaste there at the desk and gave a whole printout on it. We have used xylitol products since they came out, so I am not new to the benefits, I just thought it was interesting that dentists are so turned onto them. So, as a mom, I am passing on my xylitol “source”.
The gum itself is still a little hard to find, very expensive, and comes all wrapped and you push it out of the package (at least the ones I see). Well, by the time my hoard of children is done chewing, the package is gone. So, I found a place that sell xylitol gum by the 1000 pack. It’s $70 per package, but it lasts a LONG time and is much cheaper than what you can find in the store. Don’t get the fruit one, the flavor is gone in 2 minutes. Peppermint is fabulous, cinnamon gets a nice second place...
O.K. SO, this week I ordered our gum and since Dr. McKinley insisted on xylitol toothpaste, I ordered a couple of tubes from my favorite xylitol place (www.epicdental.com) to try out their toothpaste. I got fluoride free (fluoride is banned from our house), and it is SO SO GOOD. If you are having a baby every 18 months and having to brush all of the teeth we brush around here, to find a fluoride free, semi-healthy, o.k. if you swallow it toothpaste....that still gets your teeth fresh, can be a feat in and of itself. Well, look no longer!! First of all, this toothpaste is VERY mild. My kids complain a lot about how “spicy” toothpaste is. We have used Jason’s “sea fresh” for YEARS...and liked it, but I have to say, we are now changing toothpaste gears to the Epic Dental xylitol fluoride free toothpaste.
It is $5.95 a tube and my favorite feature is the hole on the tube is very small. No matter how hard you squeeze, it just does a tiny dot or two on your brush. Anyone with a two year old knows how important this feature is. I could go into detail, but will spare the audience, of all of the sticky things and uses the whole tube of toothpaste is needed for (according to all of our two year olds). OH, also, the top is a flip top that stays with the tube.
I feel better. I have thoroughly expressed myself about the whole toothpaste issue and a release has coursed through my entire being.
Goodbye for now.
P.S. One reason I got turned onto xylitol for my kids was a pilot friend of ours went through a time (almost a year) where he chewed xylitol gum every time he flew. He just liked having it in his mouth to relieve stress. That year, when he went to the dentist, there was not ONE SPECK of bacteria or plaque on his teeth. The dentist was utterly amazed and asked what he had been doing. WEll, he admitted to his gum habit and apparently it had kept his teeth sparkly. At the time, I was looking for a little brushing “reliever” for the kids. Something great that I could use as a reward system that would help me feel better between brushes...After Dave told me that story...I searched and found epicdental.com and the 1000 pack of gum.
The double and triple bars are $10 and $15 respectively and I put those in cellophane like so:
As you know, this website is www.lovethissoap.com. HEnce; the soap.Anytime I make or sell something, I like to do a little site to go with the item since I am totally a web girl. The only thing about the site is...there’s only so much I have to say about soap...so I decided to use the blog page for something else. But if you want to read up on ingredients....all of that is on the other pages of the site.
Squeaky Clean is the name of the soap and the first Christmas I made lots of flavors and kinds of soaps but they paled in comparison to this particular batch of soap. The other fragrances were yukky and some of the bars turned brown...gross. I just stuck with the one winner and have not really deviated from that ever since. The soap is sold in one store in town: Kathleen Sommers down on Main Street. I have too many kids to get aggressive with marketing...but enjoy making a batch of it now and then.
Natalie (my assistant) and I are shooting for making 3 batches this week. That’s 324 bars of soap. We make 108 bars at a time and then set them out to “cure”. As soon as they are “dry”, we will package them and deliver them all over town.
So, that’s the deal on my soap. I kind of lay low during the year with it, and at Christmas time I get all excited and “soapy” and make it til our house smells from top to bottom of the squeaky clean soap.
-R
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