How Toothpaste Became a Mainstream Product

He is pointing to the fact that the studies that originated the "willpower pool" hypothesis have been increasingly discredited.

Like most things the true is probably somewhere in between and the effect is probably there, just not as strong as the original publication implied. Sprinkle a bit of placebo effect on top of that and that could lead to people (e.g. you) using the concept of ego depletion with a lot of success.

And of course there’s the politicized paranoia of contaminating the public water supply, and who should get to decide such things, and why they might choose to do it.

But, those stories usually focus on intrigue, and don’t explain much about the chemistry of the element flourine, ionic compounds, or much of anything else, and dissolve into hand-wavey boogie men.

You basically get two incomplete pictures of the same story. What both sides leave out is that flouride has medical utility, but while toxicity is a potential risk, it’s not some mysterious subversive threat, and the benefits weigh favorably against the side effects.

Also, no one ever tells you that a little bit won’t hurt. Opponents offer hysterics of zero tolerance for poisonous toxic waste and brain damage. See also, Dr. Strangelove, and the idea of precious bodily fluids.

Meanwhile, advocates never tell you that you might be okay with flouride toothpaste just once a week, and no flouride at all the rest of the week, brushing with just pure, ordinary water (Mandrake). Instead, advocates advise twice a day, ...no more, but certainly no less.

And proponents of public flouridated water usually sidestep the premise of prescriptive public health as offering a leg up to people who might not have disposable income for toothpaste. Charity chafes all sides. Some might be too proud to accept the premise of assistance. Others bristling at the undertones of that idea amounting to other people’s needs conflicting with the autonomy of those with the capacity for choice between such options.

This is why toothpaste’s marketing relies heavily on peer pressure and establishing trust in habitual use. Habitual use also carries the obviously juicy benefit of boosting volume and revenue.

In terms of building habits and routines, I think the trouble with nasal irrigation is that it takes too much work to prep the water. I do it during allergy season, but only because my hay fever is bad enough that the relief is a big help. If you want people to make a habit out of it in the absence of having their sinuses assaulted by trees, it would be good if there was a way to have water for your neti pot as easily available as toothpaste is.

You'd need a gizmo that can quickly and easily take an adequate quantity of water, sanitize it, bring it to temperature, and add the appropriate quantity of salt to make it isotonic without too much effort on the part of the user.