Theodent Toothpaste

Toothpaste is universally known as one of those things that instantaneously brings out our irrational shopper persona whilst wandering through the bright-lighted oral hygiene aisles at supermarkets. Well, the subject of this article is directed to these indecisive souls.
Theodent LLC, a New Orleans-based company as recently launched a toothpaste that has replaced fluoride with Rennou™, an active ingredient extracted from chocolate. Like other examples of ingenious discoveries, this one also came to life as an accident; researchers found a particular extract from chocolate that has a beneficial effect on teeth. Whereas caffeine stunts enamel growth, Rennou™ actually helps to stimulate the growth of new enamel; that means less predisposition to bacterial acid de-mineralization and thus your teeth stay healthier and stronger. Moreover, unlike ordinary fluoride-containing toothpastes, Theodent is non-toxic if swallowed.
Theodent basically broke the ordinary rules of toothpaste manufacturing, innovating not only in composition but also in packaging. Theodent’s CEO, Mr. Arman Sadeghpour, knew that to launch such an innovative product the regular toothpaste tube was not enough. And to make this product stand out of the wide range of toothpastes on the market, why not invest in a fancy, handy and sexy look?

First, he sought for the help of Rencher Lann, graphic designer, to establish a product identity and than focus on branding and design concept. Then, after a while spent looking around for the right packaging, Mr.Sadeghpour came into contact with World Wide Packaging, a US company specialized in design and manufacture of packaging components for cosmetic industries.

After two years of product and prototype development, Theodent toothpaste came out in a magnificent box and tube colored in brown and copper, and with a gold triangular-shaped custom cap. Looking at the box, it seems the one of a Wonka Chocolate bar –luxurious and perfect in every aspect. The tubes are made from resin with an EVOH (Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol) barrier layer, and hot-stamped with the brand’s refined gold characters and logo design.
Every detail of this product has been outlined to provide the best experience to the consumer, and specifically the golden cap. It has a custom shape that, when “snapped”, reveals the tube’s narrow neck and pinpoint orifice. The benefit of this unusual design are various –starting from the fact that this shape won’t let dried-up toothpaste to accumulate on the orifice, and passing through dispensing control. No more toothpaste all over the sink or hands, in fact thanks to the oval shape of the orifice the user can squeeze out the perfect amount of product every time.
Despite what you might think when looking at the chocolate brown tube, Theodent toothpaste has a delicate mint flavour. Mr. Sadeghpour, opted to maintain the brown color to ensure that the consumer connects the brown color with the cocoa extract that is present in the product –the Rennou™.
This product design in the toothpaste market, stationary for years, certainly could not go unnoticed to the world’s largest and most distinguished international design competition –the Red Dot Award. So, after competing with more than 6,800 product entries from more than 40 countries, Theodent toothpaste has been awarded for product design and innovative concept in 2012. A great achievement for Mr. Sadeghpour and his team also in terms of visibility, the Theodent toothpaste will receive two pages in the Red Dot “International Yearbook of Communication Design 2012/2013″ and will be featured in the Red Dot Museum of International Design in Shanghai.