Legend claims that green tea was discovered when a Chinese Emperor mistakenly drank water boiled with dead tea leaves in it. Today, it has grown from a Chinese and Japanese delicacy and has found its place as a household item all over the world. And though it dates back thousands of years, green tea is still rising in popularity for its long list of benefits. Its effect on oral health alone is worth using it!

Many of green tea's health benefits can be attributed to its high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols and catechins. The most dominant antioxidant in green tea is EGCG, which is anti-inflammatory and free radical neutralizing (cancer-fighting).

With that compound at the forefront of many studies on green tea, there is a strong link between green tea and disease prevention, periodontal disease, and anti-aging.

But this seemingly unusual ingredient in our toothpaste has even more specific ways it enhances dental health to give us healthy teeth. Let's dive in!

We harness the power of all-natural green tea powder to make our Whitening Toothpaste the all-star of your oral care routine. Try it today!

 

How Green Tea Reverses Damage and Protects Your Teeth

Green tea helps protect you in a variety of ways. While it has anti-inflammatory properties and fights disease, studies also show that it is antimicrobial, helps fight off bone resorption, and even has cognitive benefits. To understand the importance of those mechanisms to our oral health, we need to explore the specific nutrients that make them happen.

 

Antioxidants

There are six significant green tea polyphenols (antioxidants), but none are praised or studied as much as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Research constantly reports EGCG as responsible for much of the good in green tea, including its anti-aging properties.

EGCG is beneficial for anti-aging because it neutralizes free radicals, which are dangerous, unstable atoms that run wild in our bodies. Free radicals cause cancer, damage skin, produce wrinkles, and (of course) cause aging. Although we don't understand as much as we'd like to about free radicals, we do know they cause illness when there are too many and not enough antioxidants to fight back against them (which is called oxidative stress).

Green tea works against oxidative stress, protecting you from UV damage, skin wrinkling, and various illnesses.

 

How Green Tea Eliminates Bacteria and Inflammation

Because the polyphenols in green tea boost the immune system, they help our bodies fight infection more efficiently. While the body is primed to fight off disease, EGCG kills microbes directly, reduces dental plaque, and can even eliminate certain viruses (even influenza).

Because green tea kills oral bacteria (like gingivitis and other gum diseases), daily use helps to keep your gums clean and healthy. But bacteria are only part of the story. Inflammation reduces the body's ability to combat disease and stay fit.
When the body is inflamed, it remains at higher risk of losing the fight against various diseases.

However, using green tea daily helps keep both inflammation and oxidative stress down to more manageable levels. That means green tea doesn't just reduce not the risk of gingivitis and influenza, but it keeps many other inflammatory diseases at bay as well.

Even halitosis.

 

Halitosis (Bad Breath)

VCSs (volatile sulfuric compounds) often cause bad breath (halitosis). By reducing the amount of these VSCs produced in the mouth and saliva, we can mitigate odor. Green tea has been shown to have a more immediate cleansing and deodorizing effect than mint!

However, since both green tea and mint work to clean and freshen the mouth, we include both in our Whitening Toothpaste!

(Don't discount the power of a breath mint, either! We formulated our Oral Probiotics to strengthen your oral microbiome while providing a fresh, minty breath boost!)

 

Green Tea and Bone Loss

Green tea also keeps our teeth supported with solid bones.

Specific cells (osteoclasts) break down bone in the body. This process is called bone resorption; we often think of it as bone loss. When these osteoclasts continue to develop and break down bones uninhibited, it eventually leads to osteoporosis and other issues.

The polyphenols in green tea work against osteoclast production, stopping these cells from producing and also killing existing ones.

While teeth are not bones, they are supported by them. If that support fails, the teeth will suffer as well (leading to tooth loss). Preventing bone resorption is critical to healthy teeth, and maintaining strong teeth is essential to preventing bone resorption. Needless to say, a healthy mouth is a must-have for overall bodily health.

 

The Cognitive Boost

In addition to keeping the bones supported and the mouth healthy, green tea also sharpens the mind.

EGCG is a cognitive booster; it protects neurons and brain cells. Studies suggest that EGCG may help slow the deterioration brought on by Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Paired with an amino acid called L-theanine, EGCG enhances focus and calms the nervous system, which means it's also great for reducing stress!

 

Does the Green Tea in Our Toothpaste Contain Caffeine?

Although green tea does contain caffeine, we do not use enough green tea in our toothpaste for anyone to worry about caffeine. Instead, we extracted the antimicrobial and protective goodies to make sure that your teeth are nourished without unwanted mega-doses of caffeine sneaking into your body.

Note: While we're confident of our formula's safety, we always recommend consulting with your doctor if you are pregnant, nursing, or have any existing health concerns!

 

Will Green Tea Stain?

It’s true that drinking green tea can cause stains on the teeth. The good news is that we don't use any of the parts of the plant that cause staining, so you don't have to worry about your pearly whites.

We're careful to extract only the beneficial compounds. We don't use any of the colors, only the cleansing and protective parts of green tea. Because of that, the green tea we use reinforces the whiteness of your teeth!

 

Green Tea and Fluoride

Many green teas contain fluoride, but the higher the quality of green tea, the less fluoride it contains. We only use the cleanest green tea we can find, and it's always fluoride-free!

As you probably know, we're passionate about providing clean, safe, fluoride-free oral care products. Instead, we use hydroxyapatite! Hydroxyapatite is the same mineral our teeth are made of, and it is a safe, natural way to whiten and remineralize teeth!

 

Green Tea and Hydroxyapatite: A Match Made in Heaven

Our co-founder, Katie (aka Wellness Mama), spent years searching for natural ways to boost the oral microbiome. In 2010, she went to the dentist and learned she had a cavity. At first, she wanted to fill it and move on, but she decided to hold off. Instead, she dove into researching ways to heal her teeth. And her waiting paid off!

By Katie's next dentistry trip, her cavity was gone, and the staff remarked on how amazing her teeth were. One of the main ingredients she attributes this success to is hydroxyapatite. She added green tea for its unique and synergistic work toward building a healthier oral microbiome and better overall health. Together, these two super ingredients can heal tooth decay!

While hydroxyapatite remineralizes the teeth themselves, green tea supports the tooth enamel, strengthens the bones underneath, and reduces inflammation. This is a considerable upgrade from most conventional toothpastes, which, more often than not, actually reverse the positive effects they claim to have.

 

The Danger of Conventional Toothpaste 

Shockingly, toothpaste is often one of the most toxic household items. Right on the back of most tubes, there is a poison warning most people will never read. If you swallow more than the average amount recommended to brush with, you are instructed to call poison control. Pretty scary, right?

The thing is, there's absolutely no reason to compromise and bring these toxins into our homes and oral care routines. We knew there had to be an alternative that would strengthen, whiten, and freshen without risking our health. So, we created one!

Our Whitening Toothpaste was our first Wellnesse recipe, and to this day, it's still our bestselling one! We cut out all the harmful chemicals and toxins used in most conventional oral care products and replaced them with clean, effective, natural ingredients. Green tea, hydroxyapatite, and neem oil - among others - work naturally to give your body, mouth, and smile the boost they need and deserve.

Upgrade your oral care routine today!

 

Resources 

1. Chatterjee, A., Saluja, M., Agarwal, G., & Alam, M. (2012). Green tea: A boon for periodontal and general health. Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology, 16(2), 161–167. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-124X.99256

2. Wells, Katie. (2009, October 20). Benefits of Green Tea. Wellness Mama. Retrieved from https://wellnessmama.com/183/green-tea/

3. Wells, Katie. (2019, December 7). How to Remineralize Teeth and Reverse Tooth Decay Naturally. Wellness Mama. https://wellnessmama.com/3650/remineralize-teeth/