Short answer: on My Green Routine's cheapest option, the 12-month subscription at £91, a full year of nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste tablets works out to about 25p a day. A single 100-tablet jar lasts roughly 50 days for one person brushing twice daily. No tube left half-squeezed at the back of a cupboard, and no plastic to bin when it's empty.
I get asked this more than almost anything else about the tablets, usually by someone standing in their bathroom holding a half-empty jar and doing mental maths. Fair enough. Nobody wants to switch to something new, love it, and then run out at an inconvenient moment because they underestimated how far it would go.
Tubes are deceptive that way. You squeeze one for months, it starts putting up a fight around week six, and you spend the next fortnight rolling it up like a sleeping bag trying to coax out one more brush. Tablets don't do that. There's no ambiguity about what's left, because you can see them sitting there in the jar.
There's also a slightly deeper reason people ask this question. Switching away from fluoride toothpaste, or away from plastic tubes generally, tends to come with a small nagging worry that the "better for you, better for the planet" option is going to cost more and run out faster, and that you'll quietly end up back with the tube out of convenience. That worry is fair, and it's exactly why we're comparing real prices below, not just our own, rather than asking you to trust us blindly.
If you're still getting your head around what nano-hydroxyapatite even is, we covered that in plain terms in What Is Nano-Hydroxyapatite, Really?, and if you want the full case for why we moved away from fluoride in the first place, that's in The Dentist-Backed Truth About Modern Toothpaste.
How long does a 100-tablet jar actually last?
One tablet is one brush. Most people use one tablet per session, though people with a bigger mouth or a heavier hand sometimes use one and a half. Assuming the standard one tablet, twice a day, a 100-tablet jar gives you 50 days of brushing for one person.
For a household of two adults sharing a jar, that's roughly 25 days, which is why most couples move onto a subscription rather than reordering a single jar every three and a half weeks.
How does the cost actually compare to Colgate and other toothpaste tablets?
Here's the bit most "clean" toothpaste content skips, because it's easier to compare yourself to nobody. Below is what we could verify from public pricing at the time of writing, sources linked at the bottom of this article.
| Product | Format & lifespan | Cost per day | Plastic per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colgate Total (mass-market fluoride tube) | 100ml, ~40 days | ~6p | ~9 tubes |
| Gutology Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste (single tube) | 120ml, ~61 days | ~26p | ~6 tubes |
| Gutology Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste (4+2 bundle) | 6 x 120ml, bulk | ~17p | ~6 tubes |
| MGR tablets, buying jars as you go | 100pc jar, ~50 days | ~44p | 0, refillable jar |
| MGR tablets, 12-Month Subscription | full year, cheapest offer | ~25p | 0, refillable jar |
Two honest things worth saying here. First, mass-market fluoride toothpaste like Colgate genuinely is cheaper per day than any hydroxyapatite tablet on the market, ours included, because you're paying for scale, not for the formulation choices behind fluoride-free, SLS-free, plastic-free products. We're not going to pretend otherwise. Second, against the actual category we compete in, hydroxyapatite alternatives like Gutology, the 12-month subscription is where the tablets stop being a "nice to have" premium and start being genuinely competitive, especially once you factor in that there's no tube, ever, going in the bin.
Do tablets stretch further if you brush "properly"?
Slightly, yes. If you've been trained by years of tube toothpaste to squeeze out a bigger blob than the dentist recommends, the tablet format corrects that habit for you. One tablet, crunched between the teeth for a few seconds until it turns into paste, is genuinely the right amount. You physically can't overuse it the way you can with a tube, so in practice most people find their jar goes slightly further than the maths above suggests once they're a few weeks in.
Are refill packs cheaper than starting with a new jar each time?
Yes. The glass jar is a one-off purchase, a jar for life as we like to say. After that, you're only ever paying for the 90-tablet refill pouch, which costs less per tablet than the original jar did, because you're not paying for glass and packaging a second time.
The 12-Month Subscription sets you up with a full year of tablets at our cheapest price, so reordering isn't something you have to remember.
Shop the 12-Month SupplyHow do tablets hold up when you're travelling?
This is honestly where tablets earn their keep the most. No liquid limits to worry about at airport security, no half-squashed tube leaking into your washbag, no guessing whether you've got enough left for the trip. You count out exactly how many days you're away, drop that many tablets into a small tin, and you're done. A five-day trip needs ten tablets. A two-week trip needs twenty-eight.
Does the 10% nano-hydroxyapatite concentration affect how far a tablet goes?
Not really, and it's worth being straight about that rather than pretending concentration and lifespan are linked, because they're two separate things. Our tablets are formulated at 10% nano-hydroxyapatite, which is the figure that matters for remineralisation and enamel support, not for how many brushes you get out of a jar. Lifespan comes down to tablet size and how many you use per brush, not the mineral concentration inside each one.
12-Month Subscription vs. One-Time Purchase vs. a regular 3-month top-up: which actually wins?
We don't currently sell a dedicated "3-month" jar, so to be fair to the comparison, a 3-month top-up below means simply reordering single jars and refills as you go, at full price, roughly every 50 days. Here's how the three routes actually stack up:
| Option | How it works | Cost per day | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reordering every ~3 months (jars/refills as you go) | No commitment, pay full price each time | ~44p | You have to remember to reorder |
| 12-Month One-Time Purchase | Pay once, £114, includes 3 months free | ~31p | None for a year |
| 12-Month Subscription | £91, a 20% discount vs. the one-time price, plus a free travel case | ~25p | None, ever |
The subscription price isn't an arbitrary "sale" number, it's a standing 20% off applied to every MGR subscription, which is why it lands at £91 against the £114 one-time price. If you're confident tablets are staying in your routine, the subscription is the mathematically better choice on every measure: lowest cost per day, no admin, and a free travel case included. If you're not sure yet, start with the trial pack or a single jar before committing to a year.
2,000+ 5-star reviews on Trustpilot"I've tried endless brands with natural products that aren't good and cost a fortune. Now I can't live without these, very happy I can stop testing other brands now."
— Chereece, verified My Green Routine customer
How many tablets should I use per brush?
One tablet is the standard dose for most adults. Place it between your back teeth, bite down gently to crack it, then brush as normal as it turns into paste. If you find one tablet doesn't feel like enough, one and a half is still well within a normal daily amount.
How long does one 100-tablet jar last for a family of four?
If everyone brushes twice daily and shares one jar, that's 8 tablets a day, so a 100-tablet jar lasts around 12–13 days. Most families this size move to the refill pouches or a subscription fairly quickly once they see how fast a shared jar goes.
Do the tablets expire or lose effectiveness over time?
They're shelf-stable for a long period when kept in the sealed glass jar out of direct sunlight, since there's no water content to support bacterial growth the way a wet paste can. We'd still recommend using a jar within about 18 months of opening for best freshness.
Is it actually cheaper than Colgate or other tube toothpaste?
No, mass-market fluoride toothpaste like Colgate is cheaper per day than any hydroxyapatite tablet, ours included. Against other hydroxyapatite tablets and "clean" tube toothpaste, our 12-Month Subscription is genuinely competitive, and there's no tube waste either way.
Can I take toothpaste tablets in hand luggage?
Yes. Because they're solid, not a liquid, paste, or gel, they aren't subject to the 100ml liquid restrictions at airport security, which is one of the more practical reasons people switch in the first place.
Do refill pouches work out cheaper in the long run than reordering jars?
Yes, consistently. The jar is a one-time purchase, a jar for life as we call it, so every reorder after that should be a refill pouch rather than a full new jar.
"One of my favourite parts of this job is answering questions like this one. If you've ever wondered exactly what's in the jar and why we chose it, that's a conversation I genuinely love having, not just a page we had to write for compliance."
— Jonny, Founder, My Green Routine
See the Science Behind nHApIf you've been putting off doing the maths on whether tablets are actually worth it, hopefully that's answered it properly rather than just telling you it's "great value" and leaving you to trust us blindly. We'd genuinely like to know how far your jar lasts once you've been using it a few weeks, drop us a note or leave a comment, it helps us keep these numbers honest for the next person asking the same question.
Stock up once and skip the reorder for a year. Normally £172, today £114 one-time, or subscribe for £91 (a 20% subscription discount) with a free travel case included.
Shop the 12-Month SupplyKeep reading
Sources: Colgate Total pricing, Tesco Groceries · Gutology Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste pricing · UK gov.uk hand luggage liquid restrictions · My Green Routine on Trustpilot. Cost-per-day figures are approximate, calculated from list prices and typical brushing habits (2x daily) at the time of writing and may vary with promotions.