Right to Reply

Never let it be said that we aren't scrupulously fair here on littlegreendot. So here's what Nick the Teeth had to say on the topic of toothpaste:

Dear Big Sis, Love reading the blog, and big respect for all you're doing raising awareness of green issues. Just to let you know, I have nothing against hippies, I love hugging trees as much as the next man. When it comes to the lack of fluoride in toothpastes however, I think it is just plain negligent to omit it. You only get one set of gnashers, and the intro of fluoride in toothpaste has had a huge impact in reducing tooth decay in the last 30 years. Your Little Green Bro. xx .

Excellent. Point taken, fluoride it is. And Nick, if you're serious about being a little green dentist (or even a reasonably big one), perhaps you might consider encouraging your patients to switch to Tom's of Maine fluoride toothpastes. They're made using all natural ingredients and the company is tres green - wind-powered factories, all recycled packaging, 10% of profits go to good causes, etc. And here's the best bit - I've even found out that they sell it in Green Street Green Waitrose - right next door to your surgery! What's not to love? You too can change the world, one gob at a time. Check it out at http://www.tomsofmaine.com/dental_professionals/.

PS Mum's off to buy some now.

And to the rest if my readers, I promise that's all for now on the subject of teeth

Nick the teeth

We Williamses really know how to celebrate Christmas. Here's an example of a typical holiday afternoon.

Last week, I emailed my brother, a dentist, about the organic toothpaste question. Were they any good, I wanted to know. "The big question is, does it contain fluoride," came the reply. "Otherwise you might as well brush your teeth in dirty dishwater."

On a walk yesterday, he revisited the topic. "I saw your toothpaste on the windowsill and it doesn't contain fluoride," he said.

"Ah yes, I'd been meaning to ask you about that Nick," I said. "So, why is it that you need fluoride in your toothpaste?" "Because it helps prevent demineralization of the teeth and actually remineralizes them when they've been attacked by plaque," he said, helpfully (actually he said something much more complicated and long-winded than this, but I didn't have a dictaphone so have probably got it wrong. The long and short I made of it is that fluoride is proven to not only help prevent decay but also reverse decay that's already underway). "Ah," I nodded, knowingly, "And can you tell me why some people have a problem with it and go for non-fluoride toothpastes?" "Because they're bloody hippies who think they know everything," he responded moderately. "But they don't know what they're talking about." "Ah," I said again, "and any other reason?" "Well, there are concerns about a link between fluoride and bone cancer" my Dad piped up. "But at the concentration found in toothpaste you'd have to eat about fifty tubes and even then it probably wouldn't do you any harm," added Nick. He then offered to compile me a reading list on fluoride and the benefits thereof.

To be honest, I wasn't sad to find a reason to give up on the chalk toothpaste which does indeed taste like dirty dishwater when I'm brushing my teeth with it. So I declined the reading list and went back to the Colgate (I'll get some of the Tom's of Maine eco-friendly but with fluoride when I get back to the US).

I'd like to add for the record that my brother is a brilliant and very patient dentist. He just doesn't have a lot of time for bloody hippies.

That would be me, then.