Pregnancy Test at Home with Toothpaste – Method & Effectiveness

Toothpaste test

Finding out that you are pregnant can be a wonderful moment for the couples who are looking forward to being parents. While getting a pregnancy test from the pharmacy is the easiest way to go about it, there are a few other options you can choose from to test your pregnancy too. One such alternative is the toothpaste test. This can come handy if you cannot get a store bought one or you just want to have some fun while finding out that you are pregnant. Here’s how to do it and how effective it can be.

What is a Toothpaste Pregnancy Test?

In the toothpaste pregnancy test, the woman uses her urine and some toothpaste to check whether any pregnancy hormone is present in the urine. This gives her a clear idea of the symptoms she has been experiencing lately. By toothpaste test, you can find out if you are pregnant or whether it was a false alarm. The colour of the toothpaste changes if it comes in contact with the pregnancy hormones in the urine, so the woman has to visit the doctor to confirm her pregnancy if the colour change occurs.

How to Do Homemade Pregnancy Test with Toothpaste?

Carrying out the homemade pregnancy test using toothpaste is an easy task, as it requires very few items. It was the pregnancy test used by women in rural areas for decades, as getting a pregnancy kit was not an option back then owing to a lack of large medical stores.

Urine sample

What You Will Need

  • White, plain toothpaste
  • Two clean cups
  • A sample of morning urine

What to Do?

  1. The first step is to gather everything you need and place them at an accessible distance.
  2. Squirt a teaspoon of toothpaste into the cup.
  3. Take the sample of morning urine, and pour a few droplets of it onto the toothpaste. You can either pour it directly or use a medicine dropper for this.
  4. Use a clean stick to mix the toothpaste and the urine, and leave it alone for a few minutes.
  5. After that, check the mixture for any colour changes that may have occurred. The toothpaste may turn little bluish, or it may undergo other reactions like it may become frothy or have bubbles – if any of these occur, the odds are that you are pregnant.
  6. If no reaction occurs whatsoever, you are probably not pregnant.

How Does the Test Work?

The urine of a pregnant woman contains a pregnancy hormone called hCG, which is produced in large quantities by the body. This hormone reacts with the chemicals in the toothpaste, and you notice a change in colour of toothpaste, froth, or bubbles in the mixture. If the hormone is not present in adequate amounts, there will be no reaction – this means that the odds are that you are not pregnant.

How Effective is the Test?

The test is one of the easiest ways for a woman to put her mind at rest, as it can be carried out easily in the privacy of the bathroom whenever she wants. However, there are questions regarding whether it is accurate and if the results are definitive or not. The effectiveness of the test also depends upon the quality and condition of the items you use for the test, including the paste, the cups, and even the stirrer. If any of these have any contaminants or if the toothpaste is of low quality, the result of the pregnancy test may be a false one.

A couple dreaming about having a baby

What Does the Result Mean?

If the result of the toothpaste pregnancy test is positive, the colour of the mixture will change or it will become frothy, or form bubbles. This means that there is something in your urine that has reacted with the toothpaste, which is probably hCG hormone. The odds are that you are pregnant, in this case. If there is no change in the mixture in the next 3-5 minutes, you are probably not pregnant. However, you can visit the doctor if you feel apprehensive about the result of the negative test.

How to Get Best Result from Pregnancy Test Using Toothpaste?

The most important thing to remember is to ensure cleanliness and quality – both of these characteristics can have great effects on the outcome of your test. The toothpaste you use should be of a plain white colour and of high quality. The colour change is better visible that way and a good quality toothpaste reacts better with the hormones in the urine. The cups and the stirrer should not be contaminated and they should be cleaned before using them. This ensures that there are no false results that occur as a result of any foreign substances present in the cups themselves.

Pros and Cons of This Test

Everything in the world has its share of pros and cons. So, does this home pregnancy test. Here are some of the pros and cons of the test which you should be aware of.

Pros

  • The toothpaste pregnancy test is one of the cheapest methods for a woman to check whether she is pregnant. The test is virtually free, compared to the price of a standard pregnancy test which is available at a medical store.
  • The test is extremely easy to perform, as women can carry it out from the privacy of their bathroom with ease.
  • The test is also a quick one, as the results are obtained within a couple of minutes of mixing the urine with the toothpaste.

Cons

  • The result of the test can be confusing, as it requires only some sort of reaction to occur. The amount of urine and toothpaste used has to be roughly the same if you want to read the results correctly.
  • The timings are fuzzy – there have been instances where the reaction has been visible only after ten minutes of mixing, while it should come in around 3-5 minutes.
  • The result can be wrong, too. This can occur because of the quality of the items, the timing of the test or for no reason at all.

How Accurate is Toothpaste Pregnancy Test?

You can definitely make your own pregnancy test with toothpaste when required, but women are always doubtful regarding the credibility of the results obtained. The toothpaste and urine pregnancy test has a success rate of around 85% but the chances of false results are around 15%, which certainly cannot be ignored. This can be due to various controllable or even uncontrollable factors, so it is always best to visit the doctor in case of doubts.

You can check whether you are pregnant from the comfort of your home, with the toothpaste pregnancy test. The test is extremely easy to carry out and does not require anything expensive or does not take a long time as well. However, make sure to use quality items and clean them thoroughly before using, so that you do not compromise the integrity of the test.