Here are six essential DIY tips to care for your teeth, gum and lips. After all, who doesn’t to have a pearly smile and soft lips for cheap?

1. Make Your Own Toothpaste. Store-brought toothpaste contains fluoride, and ingesting too much of it can have long-term, detrimental effects on your health. You can completely avoid this problem by making your own all-natural toothpaste containing no harmful ingredients. Mix 3 tablespoons baking soda, 10 drops tea tree oil, 10 drops peppermint essential oil. Mix together into a paste and store in a clear glass jar to use up for the entire week.

2. Make Your Own Mouthwash. Just as how making your own natural toothpaste is a completely safe route, creating your own natural mouthwash will prevent adding more potentially harmful chemicals to your body. You can make your own mouthwash with 2 drops pepperment oil, 2 drops tea tree oil, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1/2 cup warm filtered water.

3. Whiten Your Teeth Without Teeth Whiteners. You can dip your wet toothbrush in baking soda and brush your teeth for a whitening effect.

4. Be Your Own Dentist. Why wait until going to the dentist to give your teeth the properly cleaning they need? You can buy your own gun picker, tooth scraper and dental mirror at your local drugstore and dedicate at least one day a week to really cleaning out all the hard-to-reach nooks and crannies between your teeth to prevent future expensive (and painful) dental operations.

5. Keep Your Lips Moisturized. Instead of constantly buying little plastic vials and tubes of lip balm, save yourself the money and prevent the extra consumption by using jojoba oil, virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or cocoa butter on your smackers when they feel a little dry. If you want to exfoliate, you can mix olive oil and sugar in a mixture and rub against chapped lips to get rid of dry areas.

6. Freshen Your Breath. Bad breath? You can chew on fresh parseley leaves, mint leaves, spearmint leaves or fennel seeds.

If you’re interested in a different kind of dentistry, check out this article on holistic dentists.