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Toothpaste. It keeps your teeth from rotting and falling out of your face. It makes you eligible for kisses you otherwise wouldn't qualify for. And it ensures that you drink your morning orange juice BEFORE brushing.
But it's got other uses. It can save you money, make you seem like a better roommate than you are, or rescue your TLC and Alanis Morissette CDs. Read on for some unusual uses of toothpaste. And if you've got a use for toothpaste that I didn't mention here, post it in the comments.
But it's got other uses. It can save you money, make you seem like a better roommate than you are, or rescue your TLC and Alanis Morissette CDs. Read on for some unusual uses of toothpaste. And if you've got a use for toothpaste that I didn't mention here, post it in the comments.
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Signing UpStep 1Spackle those drywall holes
It was 10:45, and my landlord was supposed to come around at 11:00 to do a final walkthrough of the apartment to determine if I would get back my sizeable security deposit. My place was so clean that the radiator and vertical slat blinds seemed oddly prominent, but there was still something off. I hadn't partied with Motley Crüe, I wasn't hoarding cats, and the burglars left surprisingly little damage once the broken window was cleaned up.
10:46. I'm wishing I had studied "Highlights for Children" more diligently while I waited to see my dentist. What's wrong with this picture?
Ohhhhhhh... there are a series of holes in the walls ranging in size from very tiny to small. Stupid picture frames, calendar nail, and curtain rods. Why didn't I realize that I would have to move out eventually and fill all of these holes? It's already 10:48?!
What to do what to do what to do... spackle. I need something spackly. Something white and pastey and... That's it! Toothpaste to the rescue. A quick dab here, a gentle smoosh there, and voilá! Handled.
11:15. Full deposit returned in exchange for my minty-fresh apartment. Cashier's check, you and I are going to the bank before the toothpaste dries.
10:46. I'm wishing I had studied "Highlights for Children" more diligently while I waited to see my dentist. What's wrong with this picture?
Ohhhhhhh... there are a series of holes in the walls ranging in size from very tiny to small. Stupid picture frames, calendar nail, and curtain rods. Why didn't I realize that I would have to move out eventually and fill all of these holes? It's already 10:48?!
What to do what to do what to do... spackle. I need something spackly. Something white and pastey and... That's it! Toothpaste to the rescue. A quick dab here, a gentle smoosh there, and voilá! Handled.
11:15. Full deposit returned in exchange for my minty-fresh apartment. Cashier's check, you and I are going to the bank before the toothpaste dries.
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Audrey Kunin, MD, seems to know her business.
So make sure to wipe the toothpaste off well. Same applies to mouthwash...
Sodium lauryl sulfate is the villain: it's a foaming agent that, as best I can tell, gives you the impression you're doing an awesome job even if you're not. Maybe it helps get the Good Stuff into more places but I could do without the searing mouth pain. So if you have skin reaction, check the ingredients.
And as a fix, lysine, a commonly available supplement, is very good at clearing them up.
gold and silver especially..:)
seems to work well no more fogging
IN WORKS!!
I cannot believe you brush your teeth and pee at the same time; You're ridiculous, but awesome.
Like chlorine chemicals... or fluorine.
Fortunately, toothpaste doesn't have any fluoride in it.
Oh wait. Yes it does.
It does often have other antibacterials in it, and they can offset the fluoride, but on balance I cannot recommend toothpaste.
(Actually toothpaste reliably breaks be out.)
On the other hand every acme product I've used has cause me to have more acme and break out even more, trust me tooth paste is your safest cheapest bet.
:D
But it's not *safe*, it doesn't have any clinical trials behind it, and fluoride is actually known to cause breakouts.
For me, this isn't even a theoretical risk, it really does cause big problems.
You must be referring to chloracne which is a sign of acute poisoning by halogenated aromatic compounds. It is fantastically rate with literally just a few hundred cases over the last century. It requires that the compounds be ingested.
In any case, toothpaste has none of those compounds and the sodium fluoride (NaFl) used in most toothpaste is just the fluorine version of common table salt (NaCl). It's harmless unless ingested in large amounts in a very short time (just like table salt.) There are parts of the world were well water contains hundreds of times as numb sodium fluoride as you get brushing your teeth.
You can't say, "OMG certain halogenated aromatic compounds cause a rare form of acne so everything in the world with halogens in them must cause acne!" Chemistry, especially biochemistry doesn't work that way.
Google: "perioral dermatitis"
I suppose you could get periorial dematitis from developing an allergy to toothpaste or from smearing ungodly amounts of it on your face but you could probably cause the same problem by smearing a paste containing table salt on your face as well.
There are many regions in the world where the well water has very, very high levels of sodium fluoride and other similar compounds. People in those areas suffer no noticeable ill effects even though their fluoride exposure is thousands of times higher than normal.
They do, however, have great teeth and bones which is were the idea of adding similar fluoride compounds to toothpaste and water came from.
Paranoia is about fluoride is one of those strange little conspiracy ideas that floats around and it has since the 50s when the John Birch society declared that fluoridation of water supplies was a communist plot. Somehow the idea took hold and despite decades of research and real world experience, a lot of people still think it has some validity. I think it's a case of, "where there's smoke there's fire," but substitute "ill informed chatter" for smoke. If enough people talk about the existence of possible threat some people will assume that there must be a threat driving the chatter.
However, there is no reason to suspect that it is the fluoride compounds specifically that cause your problem. It could just a well be any of the other dozen or so components of the toothpaste. There is nothing about those specific fluoride compounds that associate them with skin disorders.
You could just be very sensitive to having something that traps moisture against your face. It's important not to go off half-cocked about such things.
I've personally found that the toothpastes I've used have all broken me out.
So for multiple reasons, I recommend against anyone using this product like this.
I just got a new TV (my 20 year old POS finally crapped out). Then I had to update my DVD player because my fantastic old carousel didn't talk to the TV. Then we had to get a new Thing, I don't even know what it's called, for all the other thingies to plug into. (The last time I got one of these it was called an amp, where you plugged in all your components.) THEN we had to get a new cable box, and we got a dealie to read off flash drives and SD cards for all the crap we downloaded. And finally, we bodged in a way for the VCR to play (looks like sh*t now on the fancy-pants TV). The record player required a new pre-amp to plug into this amp-on-steroids, and now I can listen to my A-Ha and DuranDuranDuran records again. Woot! They sure sound great through the Polks.
Day after we finally got it all working, the next door neighbor came over and asked if we wanted his old TV coz he was going to go hi-def. We told him to expect to pay a lot more than just for the TV to upgrade his system.
Why do they keep changing things? It's not like the shows are getting any better. You'd think with all the sparkly new A/V stuff, they might show happier news on TV, play better music on the "radio", or have better shows on TV. But no, it's just more channels of crap to choose from. If I rub toothpaste on the remote control, will it spiff up the programming? Maybe I should rub toothpaste on the dudes in charge.
Never thought of toothpaste, but a couple of Hollywood makeup artists I've worked with have used the non-US biodyne-formula Preparation H to reduce the size of blemishes.
Just glad to be old enough to not have to worry much about zits...
I would also add another use. Everytime I get burned while trying to fry eggs or potatoes or things like these, I cover the affected area in tooth paste and let it dry, even wait until the next day before removing it. Most of the times, the redness reduces almost completely by the next day. Often it heals completely without marks...