Zonweiss: The start of it all

IN THE United States of the late 1800s, nobody really cared that much about good oral hygiene.

Less than 10 percent of Americans paid attention to good oral hygiene. By the turn of the next century, in 1900, only 7 percent brushed their teeth regularly.

Until a squeezable consumer product appeared. It led to almost all Americans brushing their teeth every day; to be precise, 98 percent, says Margaret Gurowitz, the in-house historian of Johnson & Johnson.

Before the squeezable toothpaste tube came along, people dunked their wet toothbrush in a jar of powder. The jar was used by everybody in the household, encouraging the spread of germs. Not only that, the powder the jar contained was abrasive and could even damage teeth when used for a long period.

Then Johnson & Johnson, in 1887 already a well-known maker of sterile surgical materials as sutures and gauze, came up with Zonweiss, German for “white teeth”. It was a cream that was gentle on the teeth and gums.

A small spoon came with the product to make it more hygienic to scoop the cream from the jar and place it on the toothbrush. A couple of years later, Johnson & Johnson adapted the collapsible metal tube that artists used to squeeze paint from.

“This was the original inspiration for the plastic tubes we’re all familiar with today,” Gurowitz says. “Johnson & Johnson made a point to teach people to take better care of their teeth by giving out free information. This was one of many educational campaigns the company undertook in that era – and the lasting effects can still be seen today.”

Oral hygiene has never been the same since.

According to mordorintelligence.com, the global toothpaste market is expected to reach US$   27.7 billion by 2023. Asia and the Pacific holds the major share in this massive toothpaste market.

About 8.1 billion units of toothpaste were consumed in 2017, the trend driven by increasing dental problems among children and adults due to poor eating habits.

Toothpaste consumption is expected to increase with rising disposable income in a developing region such as Asia-Pacific that is demanding for more expensive toothpaste, mordorintelligence reports.

Last year, an American oral care company launched a whitening toothpaste with 100 percent natural ingredients including calcium carbonate and silica for tooth whitening.

Just last March in the, GSK launched Sensodyne Rapid Relief toothpaste formulated with stannous fluoride that helps in relieving tooth-sensitivity pain within three days. The company also advanced its Aquafresh Kids range of toothpaste in the United Kingdom designed for children aged 9-12-year old to provide protection to teeth./PN

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.