Dental Check-Up ~ Gluten-Free

I used to be really bad about going to the dentist.  I used to say that I would rather give birth again than have someone work on my mouth.  It didn’t matter if it was just a cleaning or if I had to have serious work done, I avoided it at all costs.  Once I became an adult, which most say happens at 18, but I say didn’t happen to me until I had children starting at 23 (or maybe even 29), I got a little more serious about taking care of my teeth.   After having a couple of root canals complete with expensive crowns from 18 – 25, I quickly learned that it was much easier to do the preventative work than to get the painful root canals done. 

Once I “grew up”, I quickly became a loyal dental patient.  I would get my teeth cleaned as scheduled & keep up on all of my at-home dental routines as well.  Then came the gluten-free diet.  I did a little freak out wondering if I would have to hold a class to teach my dental office about the gluten-free diet & the need to check any product that crossed my lips.  I was worried for nothing.  My dentist & hygienist did some research & assured me that the products they were using in my mouth were gluten-free.

I had a dental appointment the other day to get my teeth cleaned and got a great report!  Yeah for no cavities!  My dentist went on to tell me that most of their products are now labeled “gluten-free”.  I thought that was great news and just another indication of how gluten-free is becoming more mainstream or “the norm”. 

As far as products that you would use in your home, here is some information that I have gathered from a few of the top companies:

Colgate

Gluten Information

Virtual Agent:

We do not intentionally add gluten to any Colgate Oral Care products.
However, we cannot guarantee that the ingredients used are not exposed to any gluten.

Crest

No current Crest products contain gluten.

Aquafresh

Does Aquafresh^® contain any gluten?

Aquafresh^® toothpaste does not contain gluten.

Tom’s of Maine

Gluten

Aside from our liquid hand soap and body wash, which contain wheat protein, all other Tom’s of Maine products are gluten-free. We do not use alcohol, casein or caseinate, MSG, wheat, oats, barley, rye, malt, spelt, kamut, HPP, or HVP. None of our flavor oils are grain-distilled. We do not use flour of any kind in our manufacturing process for conveyor belts or for any other purpose, and our containers are not dusted with flour before filling.

So, as you can see from the list above, there are plenty of gluten-free mouth care options out there.  We love Aquafresh, but have been using the new Crest with Scope toothpaste lately.  Do you have a favorite toothpaste?