We get this question a lot. Here’s what it says on Tom’s of Maine Web site:

We use 100% aluminum tubes because they are environmentally sensitive. They are recyclable in most communities. They also help maintain our natural flavors. The tubes that we use are lined with a thin layer of food-grade plastic (meaning a pharmaceutical grade inert epoxy which is approved safe for use with food ingestibles) that prevents the toothpaste from coming into contact with the aluminum.

ToothHugger had the pleasure of sitting down with the man behind Dr. Ken’s mission, founder and CEO Dr. Ken Nussen, and learn a little more about what drives his vision for green oral health care.

Flouride is not my first choice.

The way flouride works is that in its ionized form it is highly attracted to phosphate ions in your teeth. Flouride is a smaller ion than calcium, so it goes in your tooth and is tightly packed, meaning it’s harder to unravel the enamel with acids.

Topical flouride, as in toothpaste, is fine in severe cases because it’s usually the last measure to cover rampant decay or hypocalcification (areas where tooth is weak due to lack of calcium). Systemic, as in pill form, definitely not. It has to go through your stomach and blood to get to your teeth. This means flouride as access to bones, nerve and other tissues where we don’t want it to go.

The Sundance Channel’s Eco Biz features Preserve and Stonyfield Farm.

Founded by green dentistry pioneer Dr. Nammy Patel, ToothHugger offers advice, answers, guides, giveaways and the cleanest, greenest oral care info on the Internet.