Flossy & Pure: The Toothpaste an Oral Health Therapist Made for Families

A 100 g tube of mild-mint toothpaste built on hydroxyapatite and two prebiotics, with no fluoride and no foaming detergent, made to be shared by one household from the first tooth up. That is Flossy & Pure, the newest Australian-owned brand on the shelf here and the first we have stocked that was formulated by a practising oral health therapist.

This is a brand highlight and a short review rather than a ranking. It covers who made the toothpaste and why, what is in the tube and what was left out, the swallowing question every parent asks, and where it sits against the other hydroxyapatite toothpastes we stock. If a household is currently running three tubes, this is the one that was designed to replace them.

Who made it, and why

Jess Ortega is an oral health therapist. She graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2017 with a Bachelor of Oral Health Therapy and has been in practice since, much of it with children and their parents. Oral health therapists do a large share of the preventive dental work in Australia: check-ups, cleans, fluoride applications, and the conversation at the end of the appointment about what to buy.

That conversation is where the brand came from. In her words, she "couldn't find a toothpaste I truly felt comfortable recommending to families, something gentle, microbiome-friendly, and safe for everyday use." What she kept seeing in bathrooms was a lineup: a tube for the toddler, a tube for the older child, a tube for the adults, each bought for a different reason and none chosen with much confidence. Her answer was one formula that could be handed to the whole household, which took more than two years of ingredient research to get right.

Flossy & Pure is owned and run in Australia. The formula is vegan and not tested on animals. The tube is HDPE, plastic number 2, which most Australian councils accept in kerbside recycling; check yours, because acceptance of tubes varies. It arrived on our shelf in August 2026.

Jess Ortega, the oral health therapist behind Flossy & Pure.

Flossy & Pure ingredients: what is in the tube

The ingredient list is eleven items long, and every one of them has its purpose printed on the pack beside it. That is unusual, and for a parent reading the tube at the sink it is the most useful thing about the packaging. Here is the list in the order it appears, with a plain-English note on each; longer definitions are in our ingredient glossary.

The headline ingredient is hydroxyapatite. Tooth enamel is about 97 per cent hydroxyapatite by weight, so the idea is a toothpaste made of the same mineral as the surface it is cleaning. It is the fluoride-free ingredient most of the toothpastes on our hydroxyapatite shelf are built around, and it is the reason this tube can be shared between a toddler and an adult. Flossy & Pure prints its concentration, 3 per cent nano-hydroxyapatite, which most brands do not.

On the evidence, the study most often cited for children was published in Scientific Reports in 2021: 207 children aged three to seven, followed for eleven months, with the fluoride-free hydroxyapatite toothpaste found to be no worse than a fluoride toothpaste on new decay in the baby teeth, which is the result the trial was designed to test. Two footnotes belong beside it. The trial was funded by Dr. Wolff, a German manufacturer of hydroxyapatite toothpaste, and it tested a 10 per cent microcrystalline paste, not a 3 per cent nano formula. Research on an ingredient is not a test of a particular tube. What the research does support is that a fluoride-free paste built on this mineral is a reasonable choice for a child, which is the question a parent standing in front of the shelf is actually asking. Our guide to nano-hydroxyapatite goes through the rest of the evidence.

The second idea in the formula is the one the brand prints on the front of the tube: "protecting your good bacteria." The mouth carries its own community of bacteria, and a healthy one is mostly harmless species crowding out the ones that cause decay. Flossy & Pure leaves out the detergent that scrubs everything indiscriminately and adds two prebiotics, xylitol and chicory root inulin, that the helpful species can feed on. The science here is early rather than settled, and we would call it a sensible design choice rather than a proven benefit. There is no downside to it, and it is part of why the paste is as mild as it is.

What was left out, and why it matters at the sink

• No SLS. Sodium lauryl sulfate is the detergent that makes conventional toothpaste foam. Foam makes brushing feel like it is working, but the cleaning is done by the silica and the brush, not the bubbles. Without it the paste is creamy and low-foam, which is odd for the first two brushes and then quickly the point: a small child who hates a mouthful of foam usually minds this far less. Our SLS explainer has the detail.
• No essential oils. Peppermint oil is what gives most mint toothpastes their sting. This one gets its flavour from a mint extract and a mild cooling agent instead.
• No artificial colours. The paste is white.
• No fluoride. Covered in the next section, because it is the point that needs the most care.

Two things it does contain that some parents will ask about. A preservative, potassium sorbate, because a water-based paste in a shared bathroom needs one; and xylitol, which is a food ingredient for people but toxic to dogs, so the tube lives out of the dog's reach, as any toothpaste should.

The swallowing question

Every parent asks it, usually while holding a two-year-old who has just eaten the pea of paste rather than brushing with it. With Flossy & Pure the answer is that there is nothing in the tube that is a concern in the amount a child swallows while brushing. There is no fluoride in it, so the very specific dose rules that apply to a fluoride paste for young children do not apply here, and the brand's own position is that swallowing a little during brushing is not a toxicological concern. That is a statement about the formula, not an invitation: it is still toothpaste, not food.

The dosing guidance, from the founder's own writing: a smear for children under three, a pea from three to six, and an adult amount after that. An adult does or supervises the brushing until about age eight. As she puts it, "brushing is a skill", and "supervising is worth more than any product choice."

One thing this article will not do is tell anyone to take a child off fluoride. If a dentist or therapist has a child on a fluoride toothpaste for a reason, a history of decay, orthodontic work, or unfluoridated tank water, keep using it and raise the switch at the next check-up rather than after it. Plenty of households run both: a fluoride paste for the child who needs it and Flossy & Pure for everyone else, or one in the morning and the other at night. The brand's advice is the same, that no transition period is needed and anyone with an active dental concern should mention the change to their dentist. Our balanced guide to fluoride is the place to read further, and every fluoride-free toothpaste we stock is in one fluoride-free collection.

Under three, a smear. Three to six, a pea. Adult amounts after that, with an adult supervising until about eight.

Mild mint, which is the whole point

The flavour is the reason to choose this tube over the others on the shelf, so it is worth being precise about it. It is a creamy mint with very little heat: sweet from the xylitol, cooled by menthyl lactate rather than peppermint oil, and without the burn that makes a five-year-old clamp their mouth shut. Jess Ortega's observation from practice is that strong mint is "a common and under-recognised reason children resist brushing", and that "a milder flavour solves a surprising number of problems parents had read as defiance." Adults who find standard peppermint too sharp end up on it for the same reason.

Anyone who wants the full cold blast of a strong mint should look elsewhere. Boka Ela Mint is the one we would point to.

One tube, one household

The practical case is short. A household that shares one tube stops buying three, stops reading three labels, and stops arguing about which is whose. On the brand's figures a 100 g tube lasts four to six weeks for one person brushing twice a day; a family sharing it will get through it faster, which is rather the point. At $19.95 for 100 g it sits towards the affordable end of the hydroxyapatite range we stock, and there is no separate, smaller, dearer kids' version to buy.

Our view

The tube to reach for when a household wants to stop buying three toothpastes. Mild enough for the toddler, credible enough for the adults, and the ingredient list explains itself.

Of every hydroxyapatite toothpaste we stock, it is the one designed from the start to be shared by a whole family. It is not the pick for a strong-mint household, for a child who will only brush with a fruit flavour (Davids Strawberry Watermelon is that tube), or for anyone who wants fluoride and hydroxyapatite in the same paste (PÄRLA Pro Whitening is one).

Where to buy Flossy & Pure in Australia

Flossy & Pure Mild Mint is in stock at Toothpasteology at $19.95 for a 100 g tube, shipped from our store on the Gold Coast, with free Australia-wide shipping on orders over $100. Add a soft-bristle brush for each person in the house from our toothbrush range and the bathroom is set up in one order.

Shop Flossy & Pure Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste, Mild Mint →
See the Flossy & Pure brand page →

This article is general information about oral care products and is not a substitute for advice from a dentist or oral health therapist. If a child has an active dental concern, talk to their clinician before changing toothpaste.

Frequently asked questions

Is Flossy & Pure safe if my child swallows some?

Yes, in the amounts a child swallows while brushing. There is no fluoride in the formula, and the brand's position is that a swallowed smear or pea during brushing is not a toxicological concern. It is still toothpaste, not food: it contains xylitol and a preservative, and the tube should be kept away from dogs.

What age can Flossy & Pure be used from?

The brand's guidance is from the first tooth through to adulthood, with a smear for children under three, a pea from three to six, and an adult amount after that. An adult should do or supervise the brushing until about age eight.

Does Flossy & Pure contain fluoride?

No. It uses 3 per cent nano-hydroxyapatite, the mineral tooth enamel is made of, and contains no fluoride. If a dentist has recommended a fluoride toothpaste for a particular child, keep using it; many households use a fluoride paste for one person and Flossy & Pure for the rest.

Why doesn't Flossy & Pure foam?

Because it contains no sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or other foaming detergent. The cleaning is done by hydrated silica, a mild polishing agent, and by the brush. The paste is creamy and low-foam, which many children and adults prefer once they are used to it.

What kind of toothpaste is safe to swallow?

No toothpaste is meant to be eaten, but fluoride-free pastes built on hydroxyapatite, such as Flossy & Pure, are the ones parents choose when a small child is going to swallow some while brushing: there is no fluoride to dose, and a swallowed smear or pea is not a concern. Use the amount for the child's age and supervise until they can spit reliably.

Is Flossy & Pure an Australian brand?

Yes. Flossy & Pure is Australian-owned and was founded by Jess Ortega, an oral health therapist who graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2017 and developed the formula over more than two years. Toothpasteology stocks it in Australia with free shipping on orders over $100.

Related guides

• Best Kids Toothpaste in Australia (2026)
• What Is Nano-Hydroxyapatite? The Complete Guide to n-Ha
• Best Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste in Australia (2026)
• SLS in Toothpaste: What It Is and Why People Avoid It