Up until recently, toothpaste has been an issue for us on backpacking trips. Not a significant issue, but one of those little things that annoyed me enough that I found myself continually looking for a solution:

• Toothpaste is messy, it seems to always have this way of sticking on things, especially the kids.
• The tubes are not convenient for packing. They are either too big, too small, almost empty, getting a hole, etc.
• It's not easy to bring only the amount that you need.

Some possible solutions I found were:

• The Toob toothbrush. This device is a combination toothbrush/toothpaste container. Overall, not a bad idea, but we didn't want to have special toothbrushes that required specal heads just for backpacking. We like using our regular home toothbrushes on the trail, it just makes life simpler.
• Dr. Bronner's. Some of the more hard-core backpackers will use their Dr. Bronner's magic soap for everything - including brushing their teeth - so that they only need to pack one cleaning agent. In theory this sounds interesting, but I tried brushing my teeth with it once and couldn't quite get into-it. There was no way I was going to get the rest of my family to buy-in to this idea either.
• Toothpaste dots. Take your favorite toothpaste and dehydrate it. Overall not a bad idea, and one I seriously considered until I discovered an even better idea...

Tooth powder

Tooth powder is basically dry toothpaste in powder form. It is what was used for oral hygene before toothpaste was invented. For backpacking, we have found it has a lot going for it:

• You can put it in any sized container you like, and a little goes a long way. Before we head out on a trip, we fill up a .25 oz mini dropper bottle with tooth powder and it is more than enough for our family of five for a three day weekend - we usually have lots left over.
• For gram-counting backpackers, it is very light-weight.
• No sticky mess.
• Some brands can be really wholesome, much more so than toothpaste. We don't like putting chemicals in our mouths and have found tooth powder to be a really natural way to clean our teeth. Our current favorite brand, Uncle Harrys, is made with only a few ingredients: Calcium carbonate (natural chalk), mustard seed powder, sea salt, natural plant essences. This means we can swallow it without ill effects and makes for simpler brushing because less rinsing is required.
• You can buy it in large quantities. We buy it in 16 oz containers which lasts us a really long time.

Our family likes the tooth powder so much (the only reluctant member is Brienne who finds the powder too spicy and salty tasting - sounds like good Indian food to me) that we have made the switch for everyday use. In doing this life gets a little simpler and the outdoors feel a little more like home - integrating home life with our outdoors/adventure side is always something we are striving to achieve.

If you still are looking for the ideal oral hygene solution for outdoor use, you might want to consider giving tooth powder a try.