Top Gum Toothy Tabs

When it comes to cinnamon, just like Marmite, you either tend to love it or dislike it a lot. It's very easy to see a clear divide when it comes to Lush fans and their cinnamon-scented products, and I think this latest flavour of oral care might well divide the community in half. If you're not a fan of the sweet spice, I suggest you avoid these little tabs altogether.

Top Gum Toothy Tabs are described as a combination of 'cinnamon and clove bud to leave your gums feeling glorious and your teeth squeaky clean.' Despite the spice being my personal favourite, I was a little skeptical about how these little solid tabs were actually going to taste at the end of a long day, and to be honest I'm still not one hundred per cent sure how I feel about their taste.

From the bottle, you immediately get a strong and very fiery dose a cinnamon: like you're opening a brand new pot of the grounded spice for the first time and pressing your nose against the neck of the bottle to sniff. In fact, if anything I think that the smell of the toothy tabs is perhaps a little stronger than the original spice itself and this is down to the inclusion of the lemon oil that uplifts the cinnamon well.

Alongside this spice, Lush have also included a combination of clove bud and pimento been oils. The former ingredient makes a clear impression by adding a layer of warmth and spice alongside the cinnamon, while the latter ingredient rounds it off with a gentle sweetness to make the tabs a little more edible. There is also a delicate note of both allspice and pepper underneath, which offer a little more dry spice to the aroma and taste.

To use them you simply pop a tab into your mouth, crunch down using your front teeth, wet your toothbrush and begin to brush your teeth as normal. The powdery mixture reacts with the water and the cream of tartar creates a foam that freshens your mouth and cleans away any stubborn pieces of food that may be lingering around. Unlike some of Lush's other tabs I have tried, this one melts almost immediately upon contact with moisture and you won't need to crunch these at all.

As soon as you crunch the tab, a strong, dry and rather spicy combination of cinnamon and clove bud fills your mouth and removes any unwanted smells or tastes that you were experiencing a few minutes beforehand. While the taste wasn't strong enough to leave my tongue tingling, it did feel as if my mouth had been completely scrubbed clean, and I could really feel the difference that it made to my teeth as well. After brushing with one of these for two minutes, my teeth felt really shiny and clean and I truly felt a difference.

As with all of Lush's new toothy tabs, these particular tabs feature a number of ingredients that I was unsure about and had to research before trying them out for myself - not only to understand how and why Top Gum work but also to educate others about the benefits they possess. Firstly, these tabs feature  dicalcium phosphate anhydrous - the main component used to help supplement the body's calcium intake, not to mention preventing the build up of tartar in the mouth. Sorbitol is also used - a natural alternative to sugar which allows Lush to add flavour to this product without adding anything that'll rot your teeth; Lauroyl Sarcosine not only helps the product to foam up in the mouth, but is also used to remove unwanted bacteria that may cause problems in the future.

When it comes to Top Gum, the inclusion of the clove bud oil also helps to stimulate and soothe the inside of your mouth, so you can trust that you're getting a very thorough clean when using one of these. However, I found that the taste in my mouth afterwards was not as refreshing and clinical tasting as I usually like, and it didn't take very long before the affects of the tabs disappeared.

As with most of Lush's brand new range of toothy tabs, I did really enjoy using Top Gum for the few weeks that I did. However, aside from being more of a novelty idea (in my mind) I cannot see myself using these ones regular. I wholeheartedly love cinnamon and it's got nothing to do with the taste at all. However, the flavour just didn't feel like one I would want to use all of the time to brush my teeth with.

Quantitative Ingredients: Dicalcium Phosphate Anhydrous, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream Of Tartar (Potassium bitartrate), Sorbitol, Lauryl Sarcosine,  Kaolin, Xylitol, Clove Bud Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Cinnamon Bark Oil, Pimento Berry Oil, Cinnamon Powder, Stevia, Whole Clove, Grains Of Paradise, Allspice Bernes, Long Pepper, Menthol Crystals, Colour 77491, Cinnamal, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Eugenol, Limonene, Flavour.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2019 Price: £5.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.