Toothpaste! Don't waste suitcase space!

Directed Audience: If you are moving to South Korea and have read/heard that you should bring your own toothpaste, this message is for you - especially if you are planning to eat traditional Korean meals regularly. I brought mouthwash and several tubes of a variety of my trusted brand, Colgate.
I eat lunch with my fellow faculty every weekday. The meals are delicious, sometimes a little spicy and full of meat and veggies. All things I was happy to find, as I had no real experience with Korean food in the states. There are a lot of red pastes mixed into dishes and dark sauces to dip food into. (Coffee is a favorite drink here. Yuck! lol) All things I did not have regularly in my American diet.



Example of our daily tasty school lunches

Another yummy example

Anytime a Korean person has asked if a dish is too spicy or has warned me before eating, I have often found the spice to be lacking and just fine for my tongue. You should know that I do not eat wasabi, Tabasco or any kind of hot sauce, because these ingredients are TOO SPICY for my tongue to handle. I do regularly add a dash of cayenne pepper to most dishes I prepare at home, for digestive purposes.
I always used Colgate toothpaste to keep my teeth clean, healthy and polished. I have not used any other brand since my first dental examination when I was a wee lass. NO exaggeration! However, after a few months of living abroad I noticed two things: a) that my breath was not staying as fresh and b) my pearly whites were a shade duller. First it was after lunch that I was aware of the breath situation, but I figured that I had a heightened awareness due to all of my coworkers brushing immediately after lunch. Now, I was taught to brush after every meal, but my dentist and I agreed that rinsing after lunch was fine, if I brush in the AM and PM. Sometimes I neglect to rinse after work, but I noticed that after I brushed before work and before going to bed my mouth didn't feel or smell fresh. The lack of whiteness on my teeth was discovered, surprisingly, through selfies, lol.
So I started thinking differently about my issue and decided that I should try a local brand. Within a few days I noticed a familiar tube of Amway's Glister (Sodium Fluoride) toothpaste at a (SKorean) friend's home that one of my co-teachers also uses.

I took that as a sign and asked my friend about it; she recommended the paste for a number of reasons. She explained that it really helped with the staining of teeth from coffee and red pastes. She mentioned that she was going to place an order on gmarket.com (<=== English link) soon, so I asked her to add a tube to her order for me. I paid her 6,000 KRW for the 200g tube. This is much more than I am used to paying for toothpaste. To my surprise the label states that the paste is made in the USA, which might be the reason for the high cost. The first time of use I noticed a vast change with longer freshness and the layer of staining was noticeably different after a few days of use. 
I have also found LG's PERIOE Fluoride toothpaste to work just as well, for less. It costs 2,000 KRW per 100g tube at Daiso - one of my favorite stores in Asia. I decided to try this brand, while I was waiting for the other to be ordered and arrive. If you stayed with me this far, I hope this post helped. Feel free to leave a comment on what you use to avoid staining and keep your teeth healthy, in Asia.


Disclaimer: I definitely need to floss more, due to the increase in meat consumption. When I do floss I definitely have fresher breath for even longer with these two pastes.