SQUEEZING the last drop or most of the toothpaste out of the tube is about to happen.
We used to roll round objects to flatten and get the most out of the toothpaste tube. That is about to become a thing of the past.
The technology making it possible is inspired by nature. Thin air generated by microscopic patterns on textured surfaces prevents liquids from sticking. Instead, liquid slides easily over the thin air, in this case out of the toothpaste tube.
That’s why the name LiquiGlide.
The technology was developed nine years ago by professors Kripa Varanasi and Dave Smith of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
They started with getting the most out of a ketchup bottle with a microscopic pattern on the surface inside. A formulated liquid fills all the gaps in the pattern to make it very slippery. The liquid prevents contact with the bottle and the ketchup slides easily out.
The liquid is made of food-grade materials or even with the ingredients of the food the container it is designed to package.
Now comes LiquiGlide, the startup company the MIT professors spun out of their research. MIT’s Varanasi Research Group has announced a new $13.5 million round of funding and a partnership with Colgate, the giant toothpaste maker.
Colgate’s new line of Elixir toothpastes is packaged in a see-through recyclable tube. Gravity and just a bit of squeezing gets the toothpaste out while LiquiGlide does the rest of the work.
The Elixir line comes in three colors: white, with three whitening ingredients; pink for gum and enamel care; and black using charcoal and coconut extracts for the mouth to feel fresher longer.
The Elixir line is now sold in Europe and, hopefully, soon will be in Asia as well.
It’s a bit pricey though, with a £11.99 tag when it was launched in the United Kingdom in April – or a bit less than $17 equivalent. That’s about P800 in Philippine money.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the UE College of Dentistry, former Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, past president and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy, and honorary fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. Honorary Life Member of Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515./PN
