Bite Dental Roundup Review | Zero-Waste and Natural Toothpaste Bits, Floss and Bamboo Toothbrush
The Top Line:
MIXED BUY! - if you can afford the extra cost (about $110 per year, per person — almost 5X more expensive versus drugstore brands), then the products are great. Our only issue with Bite is how expensive the products are — particularly the toothpaste bits. All of the pros are: a fluoride alternative (nHap), cruelty-free (not tested on animals), zero-waste (cardboard, paper and glass packaging), compostable bamboo toothbrush, compostable vegan floss, and toothpaste bits that taste like berry vitamins. From a quality perspective, Bite is a great product.
[As of 14 November 2021: We updated our review to a BUY after reviewing several zero-waste toothpaste options. We know it costs more but we are big fans of nHap and the reduction of plastic.]
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: There are various mix and match methods to subscribing or buying ad hoc. We got a 4 month supply/subscription of: Floss ($5), Toothbrush ($5), and Berry Tooth ($30). It isn’t possible to get a 4-month sized toothpaste without a subscription, but you can get 1-month Toothpaste bits for $12. Without a subscription, the floss is $12 and set of 2 toothbrushes is $12.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Zero plastic: The Bite Toothbrush is made of bamboo handle and castor bean bristles. The top is replaceable. The floss is vegan, made from polylactic acid and candelila wax. Both are compostable. The floss is a little more complicated and Bite goes through the whole deal here.
Extra Info: Even though they had been working to create a fluoride toothpaste, Bite Toothpaste does not contain fluoride. Instead, it contains nHAP, which is a cruelty-free mineral alternative that strengthens teeth and addresses sensitivity. Read in the Bite Blog here.
Packaging: Cardboard box for shipping and for holding the products. The toothpaste and floss are in refillable glass jars.
Purchasing & Shipping: Shipping was free on subscriptions and orders over $30; the website was a little confusing to understand between the packages and subscriptions.
Good to Know: Bite Toothpaste has xylitol in it. This is safe for humans but toxic to dogs.
What’s Your Impact? No more plastic toothbrushes, no more plastic tubes of toothpaste, no more plastic floss and floss packaging.
Also, fluoride toothpaste, by FDA requirements, has to be tested on animals. Since Bite Toothpaste Bits contain nHap instead of fluoride, they are cruelty-free.
The Experience
Context: We have wanted to try a zero waste toothpaste for so long! We also wanted to find a better bamboo brush and always up to try a new floss. Bite offers all three in zero-waste: toothpaste, toothbrush, and floss (and mouthwash!).
Toothbrush
The toothbrush experience was sooo much more pleasant than the Public Goods bamboo toothbrush — I might consider switching to this toothbrush!
The handle is smoothed out so it doesn’t feel like you’re holding a piece of wood
Natural bristles (no plastic!)
The top was easy enough to twist onto the base.
Floss
The floss is super skinny to get in between really tight contact teeth (super close together).
Floss has not ripped! We’ve been using it for a couple of weeks with no issues of ripping or shredding.
It is unflavored.
Toothpaste Bits
Admittedly, this was weird at first: it’s like chewing a kid’s vitamin (we got the berry flavor, but don’t worry there is a classic mint).
Once you start brushing, it takes about 20 seconds to get to familiar bubbles (Note: bubbles don’t actually do anything! Suds make people feel better.)
The overall experience leaves our teeth feeling super clean.
Instead of fluoride, the toothpaste bits use nHap to strengthen and re-mineralize teeth. Read about it on the Bite Blog.
The Cost
The Bite Toothpaste tablets are good for one brush. We did a bit of homework, and with each brush, you use about 0.5grams of regular toothpaste, so 365 grams per year if you’re a twice-a-day brusher.
For toothbrushes, we assume you change your toothbrush every 3 months, as the ADA recommends.
We did the math for for 1 person per year in the below calculations.
Money Report: Well… with the Bite subscription there are some yays and some yikes, mostly yikes. Bottom line, it’s a little expensive to be green in the dental world.
Toothbrush - Bamboo toothbrushes are almost double the price of regular toothbrushes. That said, the bamboo/natural brushes all hover around $20/year, so Bite is in line here.
Toothpaste - This is where it’s a bit outrageous to be green: it’s more than 5x as expensive to go zero-waste. While we like toothpaste bits, and really appreciate the nHap alternative, it is quite a tap to the wallet.
Floss - Public Goods Silk floss, which is zero waste, is still the cheapest but the downside is that it is not vegan.
The Good:
✔ Zero-waste dental products, from top to bottom
✔ The berry flavor tastes like a vitamin - strange at first but very pleasant
✔ Tooth paste contains nHap (an alternative to fluoride)
✔ Cruelty-free
✔ Toothbrush is great to use and is compostable
✔ The floss is vegan, super thin, compostable and does not shred or break
The Bad:
✗ It’s a bit pricey to be green
Our Recommendation:
BUY - if you can afford the extra cost (about $110 per year, per person), then the products are great. Our only issue with Bite is how expensive the products are — particularly the toothpaste bits. All of the pros are: a fluoride alternative (nHap), cruelty-free (not tested on animals), zero-waste (cardboard, paper and glass packaging), compostable bamboo toothbrush, compostable vegan floss, and toothpaste bits that taste like berry vitamins. From a quality perspective, Bite is a great product.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
