In the competitive oral care arena, manufacturers face a dual challenge: they must enable healthy teeth and gums that will last for today’s longer lifespans, whilst addressing growing concerns about the safety and environmental impact of their products. In this article, Dr Carolina Diaz Quijano, Director of Technical Services for Omya Consumer Solutions, explains how to achieve a balance between superior technical performance and sustainability.
As people live longer, oral hygiene becomes increasingly important. Unfortunately, dental issues such as caries, gum disease and hypersensitivity are also on the rise. These issues require high performance products to solve them, so manufacturers are always looking for innovative solutions that also offer the natural profile and sustainable practices that customers expect.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people globally, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death. People are eating more sugar and at the same time dental care is harder to come by and increasingly expensive, so oral care products that can prevent or reduce disease are in demand.
Omya leads the way in developing effective, mineral solutions for oral care products. Our natural minerals are key constituents of many toothpaste formulations, and we have extensive expertise in processing minerals to improve functionality.
A good example is Omyacare, which is a natural mineral with an extremely low carbon footprint. It cleans the surface of the teeth and protects them by providing calcium ions and acting as a buffer in the oral cavity. Omyacare range of products can be used to achieve different levels of abrasivity, as well as to adjust the texture, color, opacity and viscosity of oral care products.
For the treatment and prevention of tooth decay, remineralization still stands out in dental science as a groundbreaking solution. While fluoride compounds have dominated the field, hydroxyapatite is now commonly used to promote remineralization. Our food-grade, functional mineral, Omyadent 100, has a core of calcium carbonate and a shell of hydroxyapatite, which is the main constituent of tooth enamel and dentin. We have tailored the properties of Omyadent 100 to efficiently restore the tooth enamel and provide gradual tooth whitening. It is particularly effective because of its high porosity and optimal calcium to phosphate ratio.
In older people, dental issues include receding gums and tooth sensitivity. This can make eating very uncomfortable, but there are several solutions that can make a difference. Our Omyadent 200 desensitizes the tooth dentin by occluding exposed tubules with size-tailored biomimetic particles of calcium carbonate and hydroxyapatite. This provides relief to sufferers and can also be used during teeth whitening processes to reduce discomfort.
Omya is committed to the continuous development of effective and sustainable ingredients for the oral care market. We know how important it is for our customers to, for example, manage the carbon footprint of their products without compromising functionality. Our natural minerals for abrasion have a very low carbon footprint and can be used at a high percentage of addition, enabling more sustainable product formulations.