The Next Wellness Frontier: Your Mouth

Just when wellness devotees thought they had their gut in check, the beauty industry is onto its next area of focus: your mouth.

The oral microbiome is one of the most diverse microbial communities in the body (second only to the gut), playing host to “at least 700 different species of good and bad bacteria so far identified by scientists,” said Dr. Federica Amati, medical scientist and head nutritionist at Zoe, the gut health brand she founded in 2017.

As various other microbial markets bloom, a raft of new brands are launching formulas that are “wellifying” the mouth, just like the gut and skin before it. Fuelled by greater consumer focus on longevity (and awareness of the body as an interconnected system) and a move towards formulations that prioritise clean ingredients, they hope to challenge mass-market dental care incumbents.

Google searches for “how to improve the oral microbiome” are up over 5000 per cent globally in the last month alone, buoyed in part by an increase in studies demonstrating the link between the mouth bacteria and propensity for future illness, including Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease.

Olivia Houghton, a beauty and health trends lead analyst at agency The Future Laboratory, sees the move as part of a wider trend towards clean beauty with brands increasingly emphasising “ingredient transparency and product safety,” she said.

With scientific research still in its infancy, whether these small, (mostly) privately owned brands can conquer shelves currently dominated by behemoths like GSK’s Sensodyne and Oral-B remains to be seen. But proponents are bullish that wellness can take a bite out of the market, or that it already has.

“Oral health is now part of the wellness conversation,” confirmed periodonist Dr. Reena Wadia, whose clinic RW Perio sits on London’s Harley Street. “It used to be about aesthetics and now it’s a key part of a good self-care routine.”

Reinventing Toothpaste

The biggest threat to our oral microbiomes, some wellness experts say, is already in our bathroom. Traditional toothpastes are made with antibacterial ingredients, but founders like Marie Drago believe that’s a mistake. “Only one per cent of mouth bacteria is bad, but we wipe [all of it] out twice a day with our toothpaste,” she said.

Drago was ahead of the curve on microbiome-focused beauty products: Her brand Gallinée launched in 2016 and was acquired by Shiseido in 2022. In 2021, she added a prebiotic toothpaste to her collection, which forgoes antibacterial and foaming agents and “supports your oral microbiome.”

Other brands are innovating in the same space. Gutology’s Probiotic Toothpaste employs an ingredient called hydroxyapatite that has been praised for its bioactive and non-toxic properties. Recent studies suggest that hydroxyapatite can remineralise (or strengthen) the teeth and reduce sensitivity. Xylitol, which features in Gallinée’s formula, is said to help prevent dental decay by inhibiting certain bacterial growth but has fewer conclusive studies behind it.

Even so, these products primarily appeal to consumers who have grown sceptical of the ingredients they’ve taken for granted in big box dental products.

Before Kori Estrada founded the oral health brand Risewell in 2016, she was doing IVF treatment, and her doctor recommended minimising her exposure to as many “bathroom toxins” as possible. Her brand’s FDA-approved toothpaste contains both hydroxyapatite and xylitol, alongside wild mint, orange and lemon oils to freshen breath and reduce inflammation.

Mouthwashes have also leveled up to tend the oral microbiome, with Invivo’s Bio.Me Oral designed to be swilled and SuperTeeth’s Dental Probiotic minted in a tablet form — all without the alcohol, surfactants and preservatives common in supermarket formulas.

The most important ingredients are the ones you won’t find. Mainstream toothpastes commonly house additives like sodium lauryl sulfate (a foaming agent which many consumers avoid using in their hair care routines), artificial flavouring, dyes and emulsifiers like xantham gum (found in ultra-processed foods) that clean alternatives steer clear of.

Many do not include fluoride, a mineral that fights tooth decay and is added to public water supplies that has recently become controversial in the wellness sphere.

A Weller World

US Department of Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that fluoride — also used in the majority of toothpastes — is “an industrial waste” that contributes to a number of different health conditions, has drawn criticism from science and public health advocates. Both Public Health England and the US’s Public Health Service endorse the use of fluoride in drinking water and tooth care to prevent dental decay, although concentrations are kept low (0.7 milligrams per litre) to avoid overexposure.

Nonetheless, RFK’s perspective is gaining steam; This month, Utah became the first US state to ban the fluoridation of its water supply, with other states including Florida and Ohio weighing similar legislation. Google searches for “non fluoride toothpaste” have rocketed up by over 5000 per cent in recent months, despite expert outcry. “You should always use fluoride,” says Wadia. “It is such an important component to prevent [tooth] decay — there is no risk in using it.”

While Wadia is open-minded about formulas that nurture the oral microbiome, she has not yet seen enough scientific research to advocate it herself. “It’s very difficult to influence the oral microbiome — we’ve been trying it for years — so we have to be careful,” she said.

But it may be more than a trend. Ten years ago, when beauty editors were introduced to the concept of a gut and skin microbiome, many believed it was another fad that would die within the year. Fast forward to today and the microbiome is everyday parlance — those same editors happily slathering Gallinée’s “Face Vinegar” and other microbe-rich formulas on our skin, and taking probiotics each day.

With further research linking oral health to our wider wellbeing, the category could well be a goldmine for savvy brand founders — if they can enlist the help of dentists and doctors to promote them.

For their part, most oral health experts say that anything you can do to cleanse your mouth regularly is ideal — there’s no need for a 12-step routine and selection of products to do so. Rather, says Amati, “brushing your teeth twice daily, flossing, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will do the trick.”

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