Stoma

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.

Whitemen

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 Kids Toothpaste

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.

Strela from Moscow

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? Maybe in Russian culture, 75 is an unlucky number.

Lush Dental

This is a really unique dental product. Lush Cosmetics, an international company, has "Toothy Tabs," which are little pellets you put in your mouth, chew up, and create your own toothpaste as you brush!

My sister who lives in Belgium bought me two packages in Stuttgart, Germany. As I was researching Lush, I realized they have a store I have been in - Boulder, Colorado.

The two flavors I have are Ultrablast and Sparkle. They are kind of named backwards - Sparkle has a very strong clove flavor, though the site says it has vanilla and black pepper(!). Ultrablast is hard to describe, but the website says it has intense minty freshness, and it's much milder than Sparkle. On the English site, five flavors are listed, and only one on the American site.

Both provide an unusual brushing experience. I would recommend chewing well, as otherwise some little bits won't be used effectively in the cleaning process.

Interestingly, the packaging is all in German for the boxes I have. The shopping bag is all in English. I couldn't figure out where the company is based (though the boxes say Poole, England). It's a lot more environmental than a traditional tube. The cardboard box is certainly easier for waste processors to recycle.

Finally,  as you would guess, there is no flouride.

Jaris, Malaysia

This lovely paste came from Malaysia. I bought it in a supermarket in the biggest city, Kuala Lumpur.

It reminds me of an Arm & Hammer Baking Soda mint toothpaste I had more than ten years ago; it's minty and yet has a strong salt aftertaste. However, it leaves my mouth feeling very clean.

Color? Standard white. And it's a little thicker than the average American paste.

From their website: "Jaris an oral care range for the modern Muslim which uses ingredients from the Prophet’s era." So yes, it's halal, the Muslim equivalent of the Jewish "kosher."

If you can find it in your neighborhood, buy a tube. It might be a refreshing change from what you're using now.

By the way, I was amused that the tube says, "Deep Sea Salt" and the box says, "Dead Sea Salt."

Yunnan Biayo

As some of you know, I took a trip in October 2010 to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I stopped in Hong Kong on my journey - in both directions. On the way there, my layover was fairly short, so I had time to do not much more than a little shopping and grabbing a cup of Starbucks. My shopping included - of course - toothpaste.

Yunnan Baiyo is a herb used to stop bleeding. It also is a brand of Chinese health products. I had no idea of the anti-bleeding properties when I bought the toothpaste. And I must say that I have had no bleeding since I started using it. (Smile.)

Anyhow, it's a basic white paste with a mild minty flavor. I like it.

If you click on the image, you can see a few interesting uses of English on the instructional sheet that came in the box.

Amazon sells it, but I'm not sure if what they sell is the same paste. (The package is different.)