Oral care: Put your money where your mouth is

This month the subject is oral care, and we’ve rounded up a real grab bag of products designed to keep those pearly whites in tiptop condition.

Listerine

We begin with several new Listerine products from McNeil-PPC.

Did you know that tooth-brushing misses 75% of your mouth? So says the Listerine product literature. But Listerine Naturals Antiseptic Mouthwash “cleans virtually 100%.” Active ingredients include essential oils from such plant sources as the eucalyptus tree, Brazilian cornmint, wintergreen, and ajowan. Corn-based alcohol helps the essential oils penetrate plaque biofilm to kill the bacteria that cause gingivitis. This mouthwash has the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. (Product image courtesy of McNeil-PPC.) (www.listerine.com)

Listerine has launched three other mouthwashes - that is, mouth rinses - in its Healthy White line: Vibrant Rinse, Gentle Rinse, and Restoring Rinse. All three products promise to whiten teeth, restore enamel, and kill the germs that cause bad breath. (www.listerine.com)

Also new from Listerine are four flosses - Cool Mint, Gentle Gum Care, Healthy White, and Ultraclean - and an Ultraclean Access Flosser with a long ergonomic handle and nonslip grip. (www.listerine.com)

Arm & Hammer

Church & Dwight is offering several new Arm & Hammer dental-care products, starting with the Truly Radiant product line, which includes a toothpaste, whitener, and brush.

Truly Radiant Toothpaste combines baking soda, calcium, fluoride, and peroxide to remove stains, restore gloss, and “strengthen, clean, and repair tooth enamel for a radiant smile in just 5 days.” The added peroxide of the Truly Radiant Whitening Booster is said to boost the whiteness factor of one’s teeth in just two days. And the battery-powered dual-action of the Truly Radiant Deep Clean Spin Brush is said to whiten teeth and remove 100% more plaque and five times more hard-to-reach plaque than a manual toothbrush will do, all at a “fraction of the cost of competing branded rechargeable brushes.” (www.trulyradiant.com)

Designed for the younger set is Arm & Hammer’s Spinbrush GloBrush, which comes in “three different fun handle designs,” with a timer that lights up to signal the designated brushing time. After two minutes, it turns itself off. (www.armandhammer.com)

Finally, Arm & Hammer’s Complete Care Plus Enamel Strengthening Toothpaste fills in dental crevices and rebuilds and strengthens enamel with a liquid calcium fluoride formula that provides “unsurpassed enamel strengthening at half the cost,” while baking soda whitens teeth and goes after the harmful acids that can weaken them. (www.armandhammer.com)

Crest

Folks who cringe, shudder, or shriek when they thoughtlessly dive into a bowl of ice cream or take an incautious sip of hot coffee can try Crest’s new Sensi-Stop Strips. One side of each strip is coated with dipotassium oxalate gel, a desensitizing agent. For some people, just one strip, applied for 10 minutes to the problem area, may result in a month’s worth of relief. Three treatments should do it for most. (Product image courtesy of Procter & Gamble.) (www.crest.com)

White Glo

New to the States is the White Glo product line from Australia, featuring an array of whitening toothpastes, bleaching systems, whitening toothbrushes (the bristles are “extra-condensed”), and whitening mouthwash. Toothpastes include special formulations for Smokers and Coffee and Tea Drinkers; a Night & Day formula; whiteners featuring Anti-Plaque agents and Herbal ingredients, respectively; and a 2in1 Whitening Toothpaste with Mouthwash. Whitening systems include Extreme Teeth Whitening Pen with Whitening Strips; Express Teeth Whitening System (it has a superstrong bleaching gel); and a Dual System tooth-whitener and stain-lifter combo. Also available are dental flosser toothpicks and a traveler’s pack of necessary items. By the end of the month, these products will be found at numerous retail outlets, including Costco, IGA, Supervalu chains, Albertsens, Bartell Drugs, Pharmaca, and Vitamin World. (Product image courtesy of Barros Laboratories.) (www.whiteglo.com)

Oral Essentials

Last October, Kourosh Maddahi, DDS, a best-selling author and celebrity dentist in Beverly Hills, launched Oral Essentials Mouthwash, the first in a projected line of oral care products made without artificial dyes, flavors, or sweeteners. Main ingredients include aloe vera and Dead Sea salt (the salt prevents production of harmful toxins that cause infection and disease). The mouthwash is flavored with xylitol, a plant sugar. In development are a toothpaste, dental floss, breath mints, and chewing gum. (Product image courtesy of Oral Essentials.) (http://oralessentials.com/)

Organix-South

First to launch in a new line of oral care products from Organix-South is the XyliVita toothbrush, available in four colors, with medium, soft, or extra-soft nylon bristles and a handle made from 100% biodegradable recycled materials. Other products soon to launch include vitamin-infused Xylitol toothpastes, a toothpaste for sensitive teeth, a Multi-Care Mouthwash, and Xylitol whitening chewing gums. (www.xylivita.com)

Dr. Fresh

The latest products for kids from Dr. Fresh include three toothbrushes and a mouthwash. The Firefly Star Wars Ready Go Brush comes in Darth Vader black and Yoda green, while the FireflyHello Kitty Toothbrush is, of course, very pink. All three toothbrushes feature a light-up timer that functions like a little traffic light to tell children to begin brushing (green), to keep going (yellow), or to stop (red). Suction cups keep the toothbrushes upright when not in use. (Product images courtesy of Dr. Fresh.)

Too cute for words is the pink Hello Kitty Anticavity Mouth Rinse bottle topped by a dispenser in the form of a little Hello Kitty head. The sugar- and alcohol-free mouthwash contains fluoride to fight cavities and protect enamel. It comes in a kid-friendly “melon-kiss” flavor and features a convenient “no-mess” measuring cup at the bottom of the bottle that slides away when not in use. (Product images courtesy of Dr. Fresh.) (www.fireflytoothbrush.com)