Bite Toothpaste Bits Are the Teeth-Whitening Toothpaste Replacement You Didn’t Know You Needed
As much as I love having squeaky clean teeth, I find the experience of brushing my teeth twice a day to be a huge drag.
I realize four measly minutes out of my day is a small price to pay for good dental health, but I find the process utterly dull. Thankfully, I've recently discovered that I find toothbrushing a lot less monotonous when I occasionally switch things up.
Depending on how I'm feeling, I'll swap between my manual Boie toothbrush and my electric one, and between a couple varieties of toothpastes. It's not a lot, but it helps. I think that's what intrigued me immediately by Bite Toothpaste Bits.
Unlike every other toothpaste I've ever seen, Bite isn't a paste. Instead, their teeth-cleaning products are formed into tiny pellets and come in totally reusable packaging. They sounded like exactly the thing to add a little spice to my twice-daily routine, so I reached out to the company, who generously provided me with a bottle of each of their two flavors for review.
The Product
Bite Toothpaste Bits probably differ quite a bit from the toothpaste you're used to. First, there's the shape. They come in the form of small solid balls, rather than a paste. Rather than squeezing it from a tube, you simply pop one in your mouth, bite down on it to break it up into a powder and then brush away with a wet toothbrush.
You'd think some weird components might go into making this special toothpaste, but Bite likely has a shorter list of ingredients than what you're currently using. They avoid using artificial dyes and flavors, as well as cheap fillers, making a stripped-down product with only 10 ingredients in their charcoal flavor and nine in their mint one. Every ingredient serves a purpose, and each one is completely vegan.
(via Bite Toothpaste Bits)
The company is also dedicated to sustainability. According to their website, more than a billion toothpaste tubes are thrown out every year. That's a lot of avoidable plastic waste. Bite avoids adding to that number by packaging their toothpaste bits in reusable glass bottles with metal lids. When you need refills, they're sent in compostable pouches, and plastic isn't used in any of their packaging.
One bottle of Bite Toothpaste Bits costs $12, or you can go for a two-pack including both of their flavors for $20. They also have a subscription service that sends a hefty $30 supply of 256 tablets every four months (adding up to $7.50 per month).
The Experience
Activated Charcoal
When my two bottles of Bite arrived in the mail, I truly couldn't wait to go home and experience brushing my teeth with them. That was a strange feeling, but I embraced it. I decided to try the activated charcoal flavor first because it was the stranger of the two, and wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I tend to dislike lots of toothpastes, especially when their mint flavor is too hot and overpowering, so I was curious about how a naturally flavored toothpaste would actually taste.
I pulled one tablet out of its bottle and was a little surprised at its small size. Of course, a little can go a long way when it comes to toothpaste, and packing everything into a tiny pellet means a container holds a lot more than you might expect. I popped it between my back teeth, crunched it down a few times into a powder, and started scrubbing with my wet toothbrush.
Though the crumbly, soft texture of the powder felt a little unusual at first, it wasn't unpleasant. I enjoyed the faint and slightly sweet mint flavor, and as I kept brushing, I felt that the small tablet was generating a lot more bubbly foam than I expected. I brushed for a couple of minutes, making sure I scrubbed every surface, and when I finally spit the toothpaste lather out into the sink, it was a weird grey color, and a slightly bitter flavor lingered on my tongue. On a few subsequent brushes, bits of gritty tablet were left in my mouth once I was done brushing, but that wasn't anything a little mouthwash couldn't settle.
Afterward, my teeth were left feeling extra shiny and smooth. It didn't take long for me to decide that I really liked Bite, and I had some high expectations for the next flavor that awaited me in the morning.
Fresh Mint
In the morning, it was time to try the mint flavor. Taste-wise, I liked this one even better. Biting into it reminded me of a pillow mint, with its soft texture and sweet, minty flavor, and I found that I enjoyed brushing with this flavor more because it had a more delicate taste.
This one created just as much lather as the charcoal variety, but without any of the dark color. Again, it left my team feeling incredibly clean and fresh. I wouldn't necessarily say it made brushing fun, but it certainly did make it less dreadful.
The Bite Effect
As much as I loved the flavors and feel of Bite, one of the biggest impacts it had was getting me to think about brushing my teeth in a new way. While I often try to make eco-conscious decisions regarding the food I eat, I don't often think about the impact I might have on the environment in other aspects of my life. I'd never once considered that I could avoid putting more plastic in landfills by avoiding classic toothpaste tubes. I realize the difference I can make by using a product like Bite is small, but it feels good to take on more sustainable actions. Similarly, I'd never stopped to read the list of ingredients on my toothpaste tubes, and since that's something that goes into my body, even temporarily, I plan to be way more cognizant of them in the future.
Bottom Line
I've been using Bite Toothpaste Bits for about three weeks now, and I still get a little excited whenever it's time to brush my teeth. By using the charcoal flavor at night and the mint flavor in the mornings, I'm mixing things up just enough not to get bored. Though I think the novelty will wear off eventually, I'm enjoying it while it lasts. If they ever introduce more flavors, I'll be the first to jump onboard.
Of course, Bite won't be for everyone. If you opt for their single $12 bottles, which last about a month for one person, it's likely you'll be spending a lot more on toothpaste than you're used to. It's definitely pricier than the average tube you might pick up at the store, but if sustainability is important to you, I think it's worth dropping a couple of Starbucks trips a month to make up for the cost.
After these three weeks, I'm not quite sure if my teeth are noticeably whiter. Still, they feel cleaner than they ever have (besides just after a trip to the dentist for a cleaning) and that's just as important to me. I still have about two-thirds of both flavors in my medicine cabinet, but once they run out, I might have to become a subscriber myself.
If you're looking to take better care of your teeth, click HERE to read why I love my cute and eco-friendly Boie toothbrush.