Report From The Kitchen #2 - The Most Famous DIY Story Of All Time (And How My Miracle Toothpowder Came To Be)

The Greeks have always been a “can-do” people.  This trait runs through their culture and is reflected all the way back to their earliest myths.  When Odysseus was laying siege to Troy, the Greeks refused to quit, even after failing to take the city for ten years.  Instead of abandoning their quest, they shifted gears to stealth mode instead of brute strength.

As the classic story goes (if you don't want to read it see the movie Troy as it is one of my favorites), they built a large wooden horse that was hollow inside.  A band of warriors hid inside the crawlspace, while the rest of their force rolled it up to the gates and pretended to abandon the siege.

The Trojans brought the horse inside, thinking it was a gift for the gods.  Odysseus and his warriors waited until the city was asleep, came out of the horse, and opened the gates.  The Greeks took the city and the war was won.  One of the reasons the story stands the test of time is that it has a lot of lessons layered within it.

If you aren’t getting the results that you want, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands and think outside the box.  This means taking chances.  Sometimes that results in building a giant wooden horse and sometimes that means creating a consumer-packaged good in your van’s “kitchen”.

The Origin Story Of My Miracle Tooth Powder

You probably know about VanMan’s Miracle Tooth Powder.  What you might not know is that in the beginning, I never set out to take on BIG TOOTHPASTE.  I just wanted to be able to brush my teeth without using fluoride.  If you haven't heard yet, it’s bad for you.  The NIH just came out with a study that fluoride can reduce IQ in children. 

Back in the day, I did not need a government study to tell me that.  I did my own research and discovered all the shenanigans revolving around putting fluoride in the water starting in 1945.  After that, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did not want fluoride in my body. 

When I started looking for fluoride-free options, I was surprised to learn that there weren’t a lot of good options.  Nothing I tried was right.  I had a choice.  I could bite the bullet and use something that I didn’t like, or I could do something about it.  I decided that if I was going to use something every day, I should like it and it should be good for me.  Since that didn’t exist, I had to make it.

It took longer than I thought it would, for sure.  But, after a ton of trial and error, I landed on the recipe for VanMan’s Miracle Tooth Powder.  At the start I planned to just use it for myself.   But then something amazing happened.  I started to post about the benefits of toothpowder on Twitter (now X). 

People were surprised to learn that there was something else out there besides taking the advice of a dentist who was always trying to monetize your teeth.  Here are just a few of the great things I discovered about tooth powder.

The Benefits of Tooth Powder

Tooth powders in general avoid adding synthetic additives like parabens and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS).  They typically rely on organic ingredients like baking soda and charcoal to clean your teeth.  When oils like peppermint, tea tree oil, or other essential oils are used, toothpowder has antibacterial benefits for your mouth.  Unlike toothpaste that uses SLS, it does not hurt your mouth's biome. 

These natural ingredients are great for removing plaque and surface stains. Activated charcoal is great for whitening your teeth as well.  Another benefit of toothpowder is that it is easily customizable.  This is why we have been able to follow up the original recipe with mint-bone and cinna-bone versions.  The powder is much more flexible on the formulation side than your traditional paste options.

This flexibility also makes it easier to package VanMan’s Miracle Tooth Powder in an environmentally favorable reusable glass container, which reduces plastic waste.  Tooth powder is good for the individual customer and the community at large.  It is a win-win for everybody.

If you haven't had a chance to try VanMan's Miracle Tooth Powder you can check it out here.

What’s VanMan Cooking Up Next?

Next blog post we are going to talk about one of my most impactful ingredients, Royal Jelly.  Until then always remember . . . 

The van never stops,

VanMan