Your Family's Path to a Healthier Smile: The Happy Tooth Story

Every week in my dental chair in Salt Lake City, parents asked me the same questions: 

"She swallows all of it. Is that okay?"

"Is fluoride safe? Which toothpaste should we be using?"

"He screams every night. He says it's too spicy."

For a long time I didn't have a great answer. So I did something most people never do.

I read the labels.

Most toothpaste is full of synthetic ingredients that foam and tingle to fake a "clean" feeling. Bright dyes so it looks fun. Foaming agents that sting sensitive mouths.

And on tubes made for kids who swallow more than they spit, a warning label telling you to call poison control.

The ingredient I was looking for wasn't new. It's hydroxyapatite, the mineral that makes up 97% of your enamel.

NASA developed it in the 1970s to help astronauts hold onto tooth and bone mineral. Japan approved it for dental use in 1993, and it has been the mainstream fluoride alternative there ever since.

Because it's the same material your teeth are made of, it's safe if swallowed.

I remember sitting in my chair with a patient, frustrated for the hundredth time that I didn't have a good toothpaste option to recommend to patients. 

A parent jokingly said: "You've made it fun for our kids to come to the dentist. Why don't you make it fun for them to brush their teeth too?"

That was it.

That was the answer.

If parents were going to use it every night, it had to be something kids actually wanted to brush with.

We took natural ingredients, and ingredients like hydroxyapatite and xylitol and made them taste like something kids love.

No fluoride. No foam. No dyes.

Just one tube for the whole family, in flavors like Vanilla Frosting, Fresh Mint and Sweet Orange.

Every ingredient earns its place.

Hydroxyapatite For Stronger Enamel

• -Replenishes minerals lost to acid and sugar
• -Fills microscopic rough spots so teeth look brighter
• -Buffers sensitive teeth against hot and cold

Xylitol For Fewer Cavity Bacteria

• -A natural sweetener cavity bacteria can't feed on
• -Makes the paste taste good without sugar

Silica + Calcium Carbonate For a Gentle Clean

• -Lifts surface stain without wearing enamel down
• -Gentle enough for young teeth

Natural Flavors For Kids Who Refuse Mint

• -Peppermint, vanilla extract, sweet orange oil, real cocoa
• -No artificial flavor and no dye

In Japan, hydroxyapatite toothpaste has been on shelves for decades. In the US, most of the toothpaste aisle still looks the same as it did when we were kids.

I made Happy Tooth so parents wouldn't have to choose between something that works and something that's safe for the little ones who swallow it.

– Dr. Tyler Hanks, DMD, MPH