Mentadent

Last updated
Mentadent
Mentadent P Toothpaste 2017-07-15.jpg
Unilever's Mentadent P Toothpaste in the UK
Product typeDental Products
Owner Unilever (excluding North America)
Church & Dwight (North America only)
Introduced1982;42 years ago (1982)

Mentadent is a brand name for a line of dental products manufactured by Unilever for its home and international markets excluding the United States and Canada where the company sold its rights to the brand to Church & Dwight Company in 2003. [1] [2]

Contents

In 2016, Church & Dwight announced it would discontinue the Mentadent brand effective Spring 2017. [3] As it only involved the rights for US and Canadian sales, this did not affect Unilever which still markets and sells Mentadent branded products in other markets. [1] [4]

In 2018 Unilever quietly retired the Mentadent SR brand from the UK market, leaving only Mentadent P on sale. Mentadent P has since been discontinued along with the rest of the Mentadent Range from the UK market.

History

Unilever first introduced the brand around 1982 with the launch of Mentadent P, Mentadent later became the key brand for Unilever toothpaste and Gibbs SR, a brand that dated back to the 1950s, was renamed Mentadent SR.

First UK television advert

Mentadent SR, formerly Gibbs SR, is one of three toothpaste products still marketed by Unilever worldwide. [4] The product was originally named after its active ingredient, sodium ricinoleate.[ citation needed ]

Gibbs SR was the first product to be promoted on UK television. The introduction of commercial television advertising was due to the Television Act of 1954 which created the commercial broadcaster ITV. The advertisement was first shown on Associated-Rediffusion in London on 22 September 1955 at 8.12pm BST, with a voiceover by Alex Macintosh. [5] [6] The advertisement was written and produced by Brian Palmer. [7]

Toothpaste

Unilever makes 3 varieties of toothpaste under the Mentadent brand [4]

  1. Mentadent P Toothpaste
  2. Mentadent Sensitive Toothpaste
  3. Mentadent SR Toothpaste (Discontinued)

Post-2003 brand within the United States and Canada

In 2003, Church & Dwight Company acquired the United States and Canadian rights to the Mentadent brand from Unilever and then operated it as a subsidiary brand of Arm & Hammer until it discontinued sales of the brand in 2016. [2] [3]

Mentadent is most notable for its unique toothpaste dispenser: a dual chamber pump. This design is intended to keep two ingredients separated until they are dispensed. Upon brushing, the ingredients will react with each other in the user's mouth. Both the toothpaste (formula) and the design of the pump were invented and then patented by Hans Schaeffer - who later sold the patent.[ citation needed ]

In the majority of its toothpaste lines, the two separate ingredients are baking soda and peroxide. Upon brushing, baking soda and peroxide combine to release oxygen bubbles. It is claimed that these bubbles will clean, whiten, and freshen the mouth.[ citation needed ]

Varieties

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toothpaste</span> Substance to clean and maintain teeth

Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing halitosis, and delivers active ingredients to help prevent tooth decay and gum disease (gingivitis). Owing to differences in composition and fluoride content, not all toothpastes are equally effective in maintaining oral health. The decline of tooth decay during the 20th century has been attributed to the introduction and regular use of fluoride-containing toothpastes worldwide. Large amounts of swallowed toothpaste can be poisonous. Common colors for toothpaste include white and blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colgate-Palmolive</span> American multinational consumer products company

Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health care, personal care, and veterinary products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arm & Hammer</span> Brand of baking soda products

Arm & Hammer is a brand of baking soda-based consumer products marketed by Church & Dwight, a major American manufacturer of household products. The logo of the brand depicts the ancient symbol of a muscular arm holding a hammer inside a red circle with the brand name and slogan. Originally associated solely with baking soda and washing soda, the company began to expand the brand to other products in the 1970s by using baking soda as a deodorizing ingredient. The new products included toothpaste, laundry detergent, underarm deodorant, and cat litter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church & Dwight</span> American consumer goods company

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is an American consumer goods company focusing on personal care, household products, and specialty products. The company was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey. It is the parent company of well-known brands such as Arm & Hammer, Trojan, OxiClean, and First Response. In 2022, Church & Dwight reported annual revenue of $5.4 billion. The company's products and services include a wide range of consumer goods, including laundry detergent, air fresheners, baking soda, condoms, pregnancy tests, and oral hygiene products.

Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor that is derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights to the brand in the North American market to Church & Dwight.

Crest Whitestrips is a line of tooth whitening products made by Procter & Gamble.

Tooth whitening or tooth bleaching is the process of lightening the color of human teeth. Whitening is often desirable when teeth become yellowed over time for a number of reasons, and can be achieved by changing the intrinsic or extrinsic color of the tooth enamel. The chemical degradation of the chromogens within or on the tooth is termed as bleaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persil</span> German brand of laundry detergent

Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America, China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and marketed by Unilever. Persil was introduced in 1907 by Henkel. It was the first commercially available laundry detergent that combined bleach with the detergent. The name was derived from two of its original ingredients, sodium perborate and sodium silicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OxiClean</span> American brand of household cleaners

OxiClean is an American brand of household cleaners, including OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover, which is a laundry additive, spot stain remover, and household cleaner marketed by Church & Dwight. It was formerly owned by Orange Glo International from its introduction in 1997 until it was acquired in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dentifrice</span> Agent used to clean and polish teeth

Dentifrices, including toothpowder and toothpaste, are agents used along with a toothbrush to aid in removal of dental plaque. They are supplied in paste, powder or gel. Many dentifrices have been produced over the years, some focusing on marketing strategies to sell products, such as offering whitening capabilities. The most essential dentifrice recommended by dentists is toothpaste which is used in conjunction with a toothbrush to help remove food debris and dental plaque. Dentifrice is also the French word for toothpaste.

Gleem is an American brand of oral hygiene products, including toothpastes and electric toothbrushes, owned by Procter & Gamble. It was introduced as a toothpaste in the United States in 1952 and discontinued in 2014. Procter & Gamble later revived Gleem toothpaste as a flavor variant of Crest toothpaste. In 2019, Procter & Gamble expanded the brand to include a line of electric toothbrushes.

Ipana was a toothpaste manufactured by Bristol-Myers Company. The wintergreen-flavored toothpaste, with active ingredient 0.243% sodium fluoride, reached its peak market penetration during the 1950s in North America. Marketing of Ipana used a Disney-created mascot named Bucky Beaver in the 1950s.

Ultra Brite is an American brand of toothpaste and tooth-whitener marketed by Colgate-Palmolive in the United States. Marketed as a whitening toothpaste, its active ingredients are baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and sodium monofluorophosphate.

Sodium lauroyl sarcosinate (INCI), also known as sarcosyl, is an anionic surfactant derived from sarcosine used as a foaming and cleansing agent in shampoo, shaving foam, toothpaste, and foam wash products.

Zendium is a brand of toothpaste marketed by Unilever in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Slovakia and Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denture cleaner</span> Product used to clean dentures

A denture cleaner is used to clean dentures when they are out of the mouth. The main use is to control the growth of microorganisms on the dentures, especially Candida albicans, thereby preventing denture-related stomatitis. When dentures are worn in the mouth, a biofilm develops which may be similar to dental plaque. It may become hardened and mineralized as dental calculus. Denture cleansers are also used to remove stains and other debris that may be caused by diet, tobacco use, drinking coffee, drinking tea, etc.

Close-Up is an American brand of toothpaste launched in 1967 by Unilever as the first gel toothpaste. The brand is marketed worldwide by Unilever and licensed since 2003 to Church & Dwight for the North American market.

Austin Church (January 8, 1799 – August 7, 1879) was an American medical doctor and a pioneer of bicarbonate of soda manufacturing. He was a co-founder of the company that first developed the product in America from chemical compound salts. His company was the first to use the Arm & Hammer trademark to sell the product as a baking soda. He was a businessman involved with merchandising the soda product in a variety of uses from cooking and cleaning ingredients to health product supplements. As a philanthropist Church was involved with charities across the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "Our brands Mentadent". Unilever. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Unilever agrees to sell its US and Canada oral care brands to Church & Dwight" (Press release). Unilever. 10 September 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Mentadent Discontinue Letter" (PDF). Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mentadent". Unilever. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  5. "Classic TV Adverts Still Bring Back Happy Memories". News & Star . Cumbria. 15 July 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
  6. "The end of a golden age". Marketing Week . 6 January 2005. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  7. Palmer, Alasdair (11 September 2005). "How my dad invented the ad". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2017.