Patanjali Dant Kanti Toothpaste

Impressions of another ayurvedic toothpaste:

Dant Kanti is another one of these ayurvedic medicine formula toothpastes that are all quite similar to one another in overall composition. Despite trying many of them, I don't know enough about them to know how they differ, but each one is a little different from the others to keep things interesting. Out of all of them, I think Dant Kanti is my favorite. An Indian friend of mine told me to try it because of its tooth-whitening capabilities. She has perfectly-white teeth, and insists that this is all she's used for years. I thought that meant it had a lot of silica in it and it would be harsh as some of these tend to be, but I'm glad to find that's not the case. It isn't harsh at all.

The overall taste profile is very similar to Dabur Red (my first foray into Indian toothpastes and my favorite till now), just less intense. Very "herbal," with a noticeable clove presence, but mixed in with spicy and fresh-tasting herbs. The cloves provide a slight numbing sensation as the rest of the herbal tastes completely fill your mouth and they utterly obliterate bad breath, food odors, tastes...whatever. Seriously, this is the FRESHEST toothpaste I've ever used. I'm not a smoker, but I imagine that this would take care of smoke, strong foods, coffee, etc. in short order.

For westerners used to the ubiquitous mint and cinnamon flavors of our toothpastes, the taste is an acquired one. It's not bad at all, just a bit herbal and medicinal. It contains mint, but it's pretty far down the list of ingredients. I find it very pleasing, actually. Dabur Red would make my eyes water sometimes because of its spicy nature. This is mild by comparison...its intensity is in its freshening qualities, with other herbal tastes coming to the fore. The entire mouth feels clean in a way I can't really describe, and I've only experienced a few times with conventional American toothpastes, and stays that way for hours. It's really impressive, actually. I'm surprised.

It also cleans the teeth as well as most of these toothpastes do....leaving them squeaky clean and smooth, but not in a harsh way. I have tooth sensitivity issues and I didn't feel anything while brushing, unlike when I use conventional whitening toothpastes (which my dentist warned me against) or when I used Vicco Vajradanti toothpaste, or even Dabur Red on occasion.

It contains fluoride and coconut-derived SLS (which I know are deal-breakers for some people), but to me that's a positive. After my last experience with TheraNeem and the fact that it didn't foam up during brushing, I much prefer this. That may work for some people whose gums are sensitive to SLS, but I found it annoying.

I can't think of any real negatives for Dant Kanti except for lack of availability. It's just over $1 for a huge 200g tube in India, but US prices from Amazon or Ebay vary. If I don't start to feel tooth sensitivity from it over the next few weeks or months, I'm going to consider stocking up on this. I like it very much.

Pros:

+ Cleans and freshens the entire mouth EXTREMELY well
+ Less intense than other ayurvedic toothpastes I've used
+ Pleasant, fresh, strong herbal flavor
+ Not harsh on my sensitive teeth

Cons:

- Taste is an acquired one, foreign to what Americans/Westerners associate with toothpaste. I could see people saying this tastes "weird."
- Cost/availability can be prohibitive

Is formaldehyde on the ingredient list ?

Formaldehyde is not listed in the ingredients. There's different packaging based on the export or Indian domestic market, I think. Mine is the Indian packaging, the ingredient list is incomplete, but a Google image search shows that the "base material" is basic toothpaste stuff. Formaldehyde is nowhere to be seen, although some people might be put off by the presence of preservatives, I'm not. I'm not big on "totally natural" toothpastes because the one's I've tried just haven't worked as well as conventional ones. They clean the teeth well but not the whole mouth.

It's been a few days, and I'm extremely impressed so far. But around the 10-14 day mark is when the tooth sensitivity issue usually kicks in for me. If it does, I'll have to switch back to Aquafresh and Colgate. Even though this kicks their butt in terms of effectiveness.

Kev, great post and thank you for sharing. Like you, I have been mucking around with different toothpastes because I really don't get on that well with our typical American pastes and gels. They are not bad but I vastly prefer Marvis. Specifically their Jasmine Mint. Their mint flavoured ones are okay but nothing special. I really like the Jasmine because it is not like our pastes. At least in flavour. And it works well.

The Dant Kanti sounds right up my alley because of the fact that it is herbal and not minty. I will be scouring the web for it and checking our local Indian grocer. He has a number of these import toiletries and I always try to keep an eye on his stock. Thank you for sharing.

Kev, one more question. How are your tubes labeled? When I did a search for this I was seeing references to a 'regular' and an 'herbal' version. Photos all seemed to show 'regular' on the tube artwork but I wondered if there was actually two products.

Phog Allen said:

Kev, one more question. How are your tubes labeled? When I did a search for this I was seeing references to a 'regular' and an 'herbal' version. Photos all seemed to show 'regular' on the tube artwork but I wondered if there was actually two products.

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As far as I know, there's only one product. The one I got was pictured with a tube that said "Regular", but showed up in a tube that looked different. I guess they updated the packaging. It's brand new, with a manufacture date of 2/2016.

Thank you Kevan.

This looks very interesting. I used a number of different local toothpastes when I lived in India, but here in the States, I tend to just buy Sensidine at Costco, because it helps with sensitive teeth. Also, I like having fluoride...

I'm not sure this will HELP sensitive teeth like Sensodyne, since most of these Ayurvedic pastes rely on silica. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't caused mine to go crazy yet. That's a good sign, because I like the taste and effectiveness, even if it doesn't foam up quite as much as Dabur Red.

Kevan said:

I'm not sure this will HELP sensitive teeth like Sensodyne, since most of these Ayurvedic pastes rely on silica. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't caused mine to go crazy yet. That's a good sign, because I like the taste and effectiveness, even if it doesn't foam up quite as much as Dabur Red.

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I ordered some off of Amazon. I may try mixing it on the brush with Sensodyne.

Patanjali Dant Kanti is a favourite of mine, along with Meswak and Red. I go through about 7-8 tubes of toothpaste a year depending on size and normally alternate between an Ayurvedic one and a regular brand such as Pepsodent/Colgate. For the last 6 weeks I've been using a brand called Namboodiri's found only in South India. Slightly more potent than Dabur red and Patanjali in the clove, cinnamon flavour with a little more gritty feel whereas I find Patanjali quite smooth.