Product Review: Compostable Dental Care from Oath Essentials
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It’s that time of year when many of us are floundering - or maybe completely foundering, depending on how it’s going - in our attempts to stay true to our New Year’s Resolutions. I didn’t make any specific goals this year, although I usually do make a few related to gardening and foraging. Did any of you readers make resolutions this year? If yours was to make more eco-friendly choices, allow me to offer you a little bit of inspiration.
Oath Essentials approached me a while back to test out their low waste dental care products, and since I often do eco-friendly product reviews I thought sharing these with my readers would be a great fit. The fact that they are fellow Canadians, made me even happier to do the review. I feel that this is a good place to remind my readers that since I don’t want this blog to be overrun with sponsored content, I make a point of only reviewing products that I have personal experience with and only make recommendations that I really feel I can stand behind.
Oath Essentials takes pride in the transparency of their information, and they are right to do so. This is not just someone jumping on the eco-conscious trend and starting a company with vague platitudes about saving the Earth. Every product has detailed background information on sourcing and manufacturing. They also make a point of getting any certifications available to them, even going as far as sourcing FSC certified Kraft paper for the packaging materials. Detailed instructions on how to best dispose of each product are also given. A great example is the information on how to use pliers to remove the nylon bristles from the bamboo toothbrush handles. Many bamboo toothbrush suppliers seem to be intentionally vague about what to do when it’s time to switch out your toothbrush. Some just vaguely state “compostable” on the package, and ignore the fact that the bristles are still plastic. A few mention to “remove the bristles before composting”, and leave it at that. I think that Oath Essentials has the right idea in explaining in such detail. I would imagine that a lot of bamboo toothbrushes either end up in the compost with their bristles intact, or just thrown in the garbage if their owners are unsure of or too lazy to figure out how to dispose of them properly.
When my package of test products arrived in the mail I was so glad to find that the packaging was truly all paper. This has sadly not been the case with every “zero waste” product I’ve been sent to review. I received a multicolour pack of four toothbrushes, and a couple packs of the compostable silk dental floss. Oath Essentials also surprised me by throwing in a selection of their stainless steel straws, and while they aren’t officially part of this review I liked them so much I felt they deserved a mention as well.
I like to get the negative points out of the way first in my reviews, but happily in this case there aren’t very many to report, and they aren’t very consequential issues. With the toothbrushes my only negative is more of a personal preference. I tend to prefer a slightly larger area of bristles in my toothbrushes. I don’t know if I brush too intensely, but I found that these show wear a little faster than I’m used to with toothbrushes that have a larger head. When it comes to the dental floss, my only area of concern was that I think the little tab that cuts the floss off for you on the lid could have a better angle. The motion for pulling out the floss and cutting it off was less fluid than I am used to with other dispensers.
Like I said, very small details. No fundamental flaws here!
Now onto the good stuff. One thing I absolutely love is the option to sign up for a toothbrush subscription! My life is hectic, and I find shopping for recurring purchase like this eliminates a lot of stress, so that is something I would absolutely sign up for. The fact that you also get a discount by doing so is an added bonus. The price point on these is also much better than some of the others. The fact that I can order without worrying about an exchange rate really helps! I really like the shape and contour of the handle of the brushes, and that you can get a pack with multiple bristle colours (great for telling whose toothbrush is whose). While I personally found the bristle head a little on the small side, it’s perfect for little kid sizes mouths, and the soft bristles are perfect for family members of every age. The bristles are nylon, so they have to go in the garbage instead of the compost, but I appreciate that they are high quality bristles that are the same ones recommended by dentists, and that are used in conventional toothbrushes. Dental hygiene is important, and I am glad that Oath Essentials believes this too! One day I’m sure someone will invent bristles that do a great job of cleaning teeth, and are compostable.
The dental floss is also great, and something I am going to continue buying even after using up what I was sent for this review. A standout feature of this is that after you run out of the floss you can buy refills to use inside your stainless steel container. The floss is made from silk that is harvested in such a way that no worms were harmed. While this may be a problem for some vegans (I’m not sure what the verdict is on harvesting silk from abandoned cocoons, maybe some of my vegan readers can chime in on the comments and let me know how they might navigate this issue), it ensures that the floss is compostable. I often find myself running into this kind of issue with zero-waste products. Often to make a vegan version of something we are forced into using plastic, but then the resulting thing isn’t compostable. My preference is always to choose what will break down naturally, but I understand were vegans are coming from too. Sometimes there aren’t easy answers! The silk is spun into floss, and then is coated in a natural wax derived from plants, and the end result is very durable and stands up well to stubborn popcorn kernels and the like. I have to admit that I was more used to artificially minty floss than I realized, so the absence was a little weird to begin with, but I quickly got used to it. One side benefit of having unflavoured dental floss on hand is that now I have the perfect thing to cut my next batch of cinnamon rolls!
If you can’t already tell, I am happy to say I highly recommend Oath Essentials and their products, and I hope you’ve found my insights helpful. If you are looking for more details you’ll enjoy poking around their online shop where this is a wealth of information.
This review was sponsored by Oath Essentials. I was paid for my time, as well as given free products to test. All opinions stated - positive or negative - are my own.