When you brush and floss your teeth in the morning you are probably not thinking about the ingredients in your dental products. But, most vegans do.

You may be surprised, but not all dental products are safe for vegans. Take waxed dental floss for instance. Most vegans would be opposed to using any dental floss that is coated in beeswax because of their belief that they should not use anything that is derived from another living creature. Other products such as toothpaste contain animal-derived products, such as the milk protein casein, also known as caseinate or sodium caseinate.

And, not only do vegans consider if the dental care products they use contain animal-derived ingredients, they also need to consider if those products have been tested on animals. Most vegans strive to live a cruelty-free lifestyle, and that includes not using products tested on animals, in addition to rejecting products that are genetically modified.

All of this makes it sound difficult to be a vegan and have beautiful, healthy teeth at the same time. So what is the diligent vegan to do? There are a growing number of companies that offer vegan-friendly and cruelty-free dental products, such as Tom’s of Maine. There are even some naturopathic and vegan dentists who take the needs of non-meat-eating patients very seriously.

So the next time you wake up in the morning and drag yourself to the bathroom to brush your teeth, consider exactly what is in your toothpaste.