International Toothpaste Museum

This lovely paste is from Dabur , an Indian company, by way of Dallas, Texas. I bought it at the India Bazaar in Irving, to be exact. The package contained a bonus toothbrush, which was awesome, since my travel brush had long since passed what should have been its last brushing. The paste has a very refreshing taste. The salt and lemon aspects are very subtle. I was expecting the flavor to be like drinking a margarita. But mint conquers any salt or lemon attributes. This could easily be a daily paste, if it were not for the "no flouride" aspect. I much prefer its subtlety to the in-your-face flavors of most American pastes. The back of the tube is primarily in Arabic, as the paste was made in the U.A.E. The claim in English that I could read was that lemon is supposed to remove plaque and prevent tartar. I am not sure about how true that is, but the paste left my teeth feeling very clean. Recommended.

Parodontax is a lovely pink paste from England, by way of Belgium. It has become my new favorite paste. The salty flavor, similar to a baking soda paste, is refreshing without being sweet. (I get so sick of really sweet American toothpastes.) And I appreciate its flouride. The manufacturer's website states that it: "contains natural herbs such as rathania, chamomile, echinacea, mirra, mint and salvia." It's made by GlaxoSmithKline , a giant global pharmaceutical corporation. However, it's not a global brand for the mega corporation. The only place to get it in the US is from obscure importers like Smallflower . The package is completely in Dutch and French. The only English is "Parodontax is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies." Helpful information from the inside of the box: Plaque is an important cause of irritated gums. - Healthy gums don't bleed while brushing - Irritation of the gums is primarily caused ...

Serbia! This toothpaste is from the Republic of Serbia. The packaging is bilingual with most of the words in Serbian. It's a mild minty paste with flouride. The distinctive addition is camomile. Health benefits abound, for sure. Herbal teas that are designed to sooth the mind often have camomile as a key ingredient. Thanks to Google Translate, I was able to discover the touted benefits of this particular paste: it will provide protection against decay, protection from gum disease, strengthen tooth enamel and refresh your breath. I like the flavor. It's not as sweet as most American pastes. It's very slightly blue-green in color - kind of like they mixed one part Crest with six parts white paste. It's made in Germany for the Serbian market by Schwarzkopf & Henkel , which is a giant manufacturer of health and beauty products. Special thanks to my friend Lisa S., who has several friends from Serbia. And thanks to her friends, who brought the paste back from a ...

This one's from the Czech Republic. Stoma is made by Odol , which is part of the GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare group. (I featured another Odol toothpaste back in 2009.) The chief active ingredient is tea tree oil, aka Melaleuca, which has many many claimed health benefits. It also contains bromochlorophene, which has been proven to reduce plaque and gingivitis . Another ingredient is Agrimonia euphoria , which has been stated to have medical and magical properties since the time of Pliny the elder (23 AD). Stoma , in Koine Greek means "mouth." In English it can refer to something related to colostomies - I didn't want to give much research in that direction! Odol decided to color the paste a light green, with just a hint of blue. The flavor is medicinal and slightly in the realm of mentholatum. My sister Amy bought it for me. (Thanks!) Sadly, unless you live near the Czech Republic, I don't think you can get your hands on any.

This is another toothpaste that might not make it in North America. "Whitemen" refers to how your teeth are little white men inside your head - or not. According to The Shanghaiist : 'The Chinese name of Whitemen Toothpaste is 白人牙膏 (bái rén yá gāo or "white people toothpaste").' You might remember I shared a similar paste, Darlie . The actual pastes are quite similar: white, mint, chalky and basic. The box has an ingredients list in English. One of the components listed is "adhesive." I always thought I was geographically literate... little did I know, but the hot pepper shape is actually the shape of the island of Taiwan, its country of origin. Special thanks to my friend Beth, who visited there in the summer of 2011. She was also kind enough to bring me a small hotel-sized tube as well.

Elmex Kinderandpasta is a kids' toothpaste from Belgium (Brussels, to be exact), produced by Gaba International . It's white and has a distinct minty flavor with a tiny hint of bubblegum. The fact that as an adult, I enjoy the flavor, is a good indication that it's not too overly strong or artificial. It does have flouride. Using Google Translate , here's what it offers: " the daily care of milk teeth and for the protection of the enamel brittle, not quite hardened against cavities." The packaging is in Dutch and French, making it perfect for all of Belgium (well, maybe not for those Belgians who speak Arabic as their mother tongue). A really cool feature was the protective seal on the top of the tube can be screwed off with the key in the center of the lid. (See inset photo.) Americans, you can even buy it on Amazon ! I was lucky enough to get it for my birthday - from my sister, who lives in Belgium.

This flavor of Strela toothpaste really is pepper mint. (Inset on the photo is from the box.) Special thanks to Marti for bringing it to me all the way from Siberia. Yes, that Siberia. It was manufactured in Moscow, but her trip was very far from the big city. It is definitely from the realm of health products, judging by the packaging, which extolled the virtues of the product. They touted "NO Flouride." Standard toothpastes tend to be proud of having it. Sadly, the entire package is completely in Cyrillic script, and I cannot read Russian, but I was able to decipher some of the information - the product's periodic elements were featured! My high school chemistry memories came back. The color is light coral; the red pepper's color shows, ever so slightly. The flavor is a refreshing peppery-mint. The pepper came on more as an after-taste, rather than during the brushing. And I was amused to note that the tube contained 74 grams of paste. Why not 75? Mayb...