Toothpencil began with a simple question: if a twig has out-cleaned plastic brushes for a thousand years, why are we still throwing away a billion brushes a year?
On a trip through East Africa, our founder watched a shopkeeper clean his teeth with a frayed stick — no water, no plastic, no problem. That stick was miswak: Salvadora persica, used across the world for over a millennium and recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective oral hygiene tool.
Back home, staring at a landfill's worth of plastic brush heads, the idea clicked. Keep everything that makes the miswak brilliant. Add a familiar shape, a sharpener, and a refill plan. Call it the Toothpencil.
The evidence for miswak isn't folklore. It's peer-reviewed.
Studies show Salvadora persica acts against cariogenic bacteria like Streptococcus mutans behind cavities and plaque.
Clinical reviews find miswak's cleansing efficacy equal to — and at times greater than — a conventional toothbrush.
The World Health Organization recommends Salvadora persica chewing sticks for their mechanical and therapeutic action.
Sources: Saudi Medical Journal (2015); ScienceDirect evidence-based review (2020); WHO oral health guidance.
A standard brush is 100% plastic and gets tossed every three months. A Toothpencil is 100% wood and composts in your garden. The paste comes in an endlessly recyclable aluminum tube — never a laminated plastic squeeze.
grams of plastic, ever
plastic brushes kept from landfill
trees planted with customers
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