20 Uses For Toothpaste That Don't Involve Your Teeth!

Did you know that there are other uses for toothpaste other than involving your teeth.
 
BUT A FEW CAVEATS FIRST:
* Use an inexpensive toothpaste- not gels
* Look for a mild abrasive, stain fighter
* Avoid toothpastes containing "triclosan"
 
Here are 20 unconventional uses for toothpaste:
 
1) Baby Bottles: Remove that sour-smell baby bottles get by scrubbing with a water-and-toothpaste mixture.  Rinse very thoroughly with water or toss the bottles into the dishwasher.
 
2) Carpet Stains: Squeeze toothpaste directly onto the carpet stain & scrub it w/ a toothbrush.  Then rinse & repeat the process until the stains disappears. Not much different than brushing your teeth, is it?
 
3) Cell Phone:  Screens: Unprotected mobile phone screens become scratched over time.  Lightly rub the screen with a touch of  toothpaste & your finger.  Rinse with a damp cloth & dry.  This also works w/ watch crystals.
 
4) Clothing Stains: Apply the toothpaste directly to the stained area w/ a bit of water and rub hard before popping in the washer.  This may not on all fabrics or stains but it's quite effective on ink and shirt-collar stains.  You may have to repeat this process if the stain is old.
* of course you do not want use a whitening toothpastes on colored fabrics.  Instead, use a basic toothpaste w/o bleaching agents for this purpose.
 
5) Crayon on Painted Walls: Children crayons & walls are natural attractants.  No need to panic.  Just gently rub a damp cloth & some toothpaste on your child's masterpiece, then rinse w/ a wet cloth and dry.
*Make sure you run a test on a small area of the wall before applying to a large area.
* For high gloss walls where toothpaste might remove some of the shine, use Goo Gone.  As w/ toothpaste, make sure you try a teat run first.
 
6) Leather: Put a dab on leather scuffs, rub in with a soft cloth, & rinse w/ a damp cloth.  Works well on shoes ,purses, coats or anything made of leather.
 
7) Linoleum Scuffs: Scrub scuff marks w/ toothpaste and a dry cloth until no residue remains.
 
8) Piano Keys: Rub each key gently with a damp cotton swab and a touch of paste.  Wipe dry and buff w/ a clean cloth.  It takes time, but you'll be stunned by how nice your keyboards look @ the end of the project.
 
9) Bathroom Sinks: Next time you drop a glop toothpaste into the sink, don't rinse it down. scrub around.  The natural abrasive works like other cleansers & deodorizes the drain @ the same time.
 
10) Blemish Cream: Toothpaste is a great emergency zit cure.  It helps reduce the redness and draws out puss.  Don't pop the pimple before application, however.
Apply a pinch of menthol toothpaste & leave it in for several minutes, then wash off . Some recommend leaving the toothpaste on overnight.  Since toothpaste can be drying to the skin, apply a good lotion immediately afterwards to replenish the lost moisture.
 
11) Nails (finger & toes): Give your nails a natural shine w/ a touch of toothpaste & a soft brush.  It only takes a mild buffing to bring out the brilliance, so don't go overboard.
* A whitening toothpaste w/peroxide also will remove the orange or yellow tinge created by extensive use of nail polish.  Again, make sure you buff lightly.
 
12) Coffee Table Water Rings : This is an oldie but goody . Simply rub some  the shower doors w/ into the irritating ring w/ a soft cloth and wipe dry with a clean, damp cloth. Apply a finishing shine w/ a touch of furniture polish or oil (olive oil works, too ).
 
13) Headlights : The dings & scratches sustained by headlight glass defuses the light and makes it harder to see.  Eliminate this haze by thoroughly cleaning the headlight , then rubbing in a glob of toothpaste.  Follow up w/ a good buffing to even out the glass, either by hand or w/ the buffer on an electric drill.
 
14) Shower Doors : Dampen a sponge and smear it with a bit of whitening toothpaste. Clean the shower doors w/ a circular swipe and rinse thoroughly  & you'll be able to see through doors again.
 
15) Refrigerator Seals: Toothbrushes are the perfect size for cleaning refrigerator seals & toothpaste is perfect for whitening those seals.
 
16) Bug Bites: For mosquito, ant & other small bug  bites, apply toothpaste to soothe itching & cool the skin.  You can apply paste to bee stings, as well, but seek medical assistance if you experience shortness of breathe or other serious symptoms.

17) Burns: Next time you burn yourself on the stove or a hot pan, plunge the affected area under cold water to rapidly bring down the skin temperature (Not Butter!! This is a myth). After the acute phase is over, smear non-gel toothpaste thickly over the burn until the skin cools permanently and the sting is gone.  Finally apply a healing agent, such as aloe vera.
*If you receive a 2nd or 3rd degree burn, wrap the area in cold, wet, smooth, towels or a sheet.  Call 911 or go straight to the hospital.

18) Diamonds: After finishing with your teeth , take your toothbrush and run it over your diamond ring to make it sparkle.  Clean off the residue w/ a damp cloth.

19) Chrome: Do those water spots on your bathroom faucets bug you while brushing your teeth?  Apply a dab of paste, rub  in and rinse.  Now you can admire your reflection while making those strange brushing faces.

20) Hand Deodorizer : Remove the stench of onions, fish, garlic, and other odoriferous foods from your skin by scrubbing briefly w/ toothpaste.  Apply lotion after to moisten hands.

10 Reasons Why Your Dentist Probably Hates You Also :)

1.  The first thing you say when you sit down in my chair is, “I hate the dentist.”  Really?!?  Did your parents teach you any manners?  Did they ever teach you that it is impolite to tell someone you hate them the moment you greet them?  What I really want to say back is, “aww, I hate you too.”

2.  You come to your appointment, and it’s obvious you haven’t brushed your teeth in days.  I’ve had some people with great hygiene come in and apologize because they’ve just eaten lunch and couldn’t brush.  This is not what I’m talking about.  I mean food and thick plaque everywhere.  After 10 years of seeing blood and rotten teeth and some really nasty things, this is still the 1 thing that makes me dry heave.  You know when you come to us that we have to be in your mouth.  Would you clean your home before having company?  Additionally, I have spent hours literally bending over backwards repairing your teeth.  Could you at least pretend that you are caring for the work that I have struggled to complete for you?

3.  After we have spent hours of meticulously repairing your teeth, you complain about the bill.  Would you walk out of the grocery store with a bag full of groceries and expect not to pay?  I’ve just helped you to continue to smile and eat comfortably, two pretty valuable things that help your quality of life.

4.  I tell you that you have a cavity and you need a filling, and you wait months or even years to get the necessary work done.  Eventually the tooth starts hurting.  Two weeks of pain go by, and you call me on a Saturday night while I am at dinner with friends because your tooth that needed a filling a year ago and that started hurting 2 weeks ago is suddenly an emergency.

5.  You come to me so I can help you, but you make it hard for me to do a good job.  You wince and make faces when it’s not hurting.  The idea that I’m hurting you makes me just as uncomfortable and stressed as you are.  If it hurts, please tell me, and I can help you with that.  But if it’s because you don’t like the whole experience, you are only causing me to work in undesirable conditions, making it harder to do my best.  And when you push your tongue in the way, or you don’t open wide enough, it makes it physically impossible to get my work done.  Don’t you want it to be easy for me to do the best job for you?

6.  You call and say, “my tooth didn’t hurt before you worked on it.”  You came to me with a cavity.  I did not put it there.  You did.  I am simply fixing a rotten hole that was in your tooth.  To do so, I must use a tiny drill to cut the rot out of your tooth.  If I took a drill, cut a hole in your femur bone, and then filled it in with a foreign material, don’t you think it might be sore for a while?  Same concept
.
7.  When we try to take an x-ray, you won’t bite down on it.  We have to do this to see what is going on with your tooth.  Without knowing the problem, we can’t properly treat you.  I know, in some cases some people really can’t do it; but some people could and won’t just suck it up for 15 seconds.  I’ve had x-rays too, and they hurt and dig into my gums, but I just do it.

8.  You tell me that you bought my car for me after having a crown done.  Contrary to how it seems, you actually didn’t buy me a car.  You bought yourself a crown.  I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education, and have spent hours making this crown fit precisely in your mouth, so maybe you helped me make a portion of a student loan payment.  But you certainly didn’t buy my car.

9.  You no-show an appointment or cancel last-minute.  Some things are unavoidable, but when it’s because your hairdresser got a last-minute cancellation and you had to take that appointment instead, this is just rude.  Not only am I unable to fill the 2 hours of my schedule that I reserved specifically for you, but someone else who wanted to get in had to wait 2 weeks for his/her appointment.  And on that note, when you have the first appointment of the day, and you show up late for your appointment, I am late for every other patient the rest of the day.

10.  When I tell you that you grind your teeth, you deny it, as if I am accusing you of having a horrible disease or being a baby murderer.  It’s not that bad to be a tooth grinder.  I’m just pointing something out and maybe offering a way to prevent more problems in the future.  This observation is concluded from signs or symptoms that are based on real science, not myth.
And along those lines… bonus #11. You tell me a diagnosis I make is simply wrong without listening to me.  If you know so much, why are you coming to me?  You do the filling or root canal yourself.  You obviously don’t need me.

 

If this isn’t you, I am sure your dentist loves you.  You are probably the bright spot of his/her day.  But it makes you wonder, how do you behave when you go to the dentist?  And most importantly, are you making it easy for your dentist to give you the kind of care you want and deserve?