Home remedies for acne come in all flavors of weird. There’s the egg yolk mask, handyman soap scrub, lidocaine rub and even a urine toner. And like any trial treatment, homemade treatments may work sheerly because of the placebo effect. But, does toothpaste posses any properties that support its usage as an acne treatment?
The first place to begin answering this question is to consider the ingredients in common toothpastes and what effect they have on the skin.
Fluoride:
In almost any tube of toothpaste you’ll find sodium monoflurorophosphate, or simply put, some chemical variety of fluoride. Fluoride prevents tooth cavities. But in the skin, fluoride typically causes more damage that it corrects. For example, medicals studies have reported that large does of fluoride could cause systemic poisoning. Though the amount of fluoride in tooth paste is less than one percent you may not want predispose yourself to risk.
