Post by Ann-Cathrin Schulz

Oral care is one of the last untouched categories in consumer. No one has built the Glossier of teeth yet. And yet the market is right there: €10B in Europe alone, still dominated by Colgate, P&G, and Unilever. The shift is already happening. Gen Z is twice as likely as Boomers to switch to non-traditional dental products. #TeethTok has 5 billion views. Nano-hydroxyapatite is growing at 8.5% CAGR, a niche quietly going mainstream. Here's who's already building in this space - and what they're proving: Brands that already proved the market: 😁 Hismile - Built from $20K to $700M in gross sales by 2024. Pioneered "smilecare" as a category through grassroots influencer campaigns and flavor innovation. (cc Nik Mirkovic & Alex Tomic) 🦷 Boka - The n-Ha (nano-hydroxyapatite) playbook in action. Scaled from $5M to $100M+ annual revenue by moving from DTC to Target. (cc James Hagen) 🛒 Hello Products LLC - The "naturally-friendly" pioneer. Scaled into Walmart and Target before Colgate-Palmolive acquired it for an estimated $350M. Clean ingredients, approachable design, mass market execution. (cc Craig Dubitsky) New brands worth watching: 💎 MintBeauty GmbH - MINT® by Dr. Mintcheva - Beauty-first, consumables-led, with shelf space in dm, Rossmann, and Douglas, with medical authority as a brand moat. (cc Dr. Mariana Mintcheva M.Sc.) ⚔️ Zahnheld - Hardware-first approach & selling refill heads, also offers whitening toothpaste. They are mostly focused on DTC and available in Müller. (cc Fabian Bentz & Thilo Gemmer) 💄 The Smilist™ - Treats oral care like skincare: two-step routines, dental serums, ECOCERT-certified. The closest European analogue to the "beauty-first" thesis. (cc François Bonnat & Ivan Kricak) 🦠 Gutology - Natural and oral microbiome-friendly toothpastes, launched in 2024 and just raised £1.8M backed by Active Partners. (cc Ollie Gallant) 🌿 Fygg - Founded by two dentists. No fluoride, no foam, no essential oils. Strong practitioner endorsements as a DTC growth lever. (cc Mark Burhenne DDS) 🔩 Davids Health Sciences, Inc. - The sustainability-first brand in a recyclable metal tube. EWG Verified, strong Amazon traction, growing n-Ha line. (cc Eric Buss) 🌟 DR.DENT - Whitening-focused, DTC-native, TikTok-viral. Peroxide strips, LED kits, and a purple colour-correcting range. (cc Marinela Bezer) 🌸 artem oral care GmbH - Skincare-inspired oral care, formulated and made in Germany, offering gentle whitening products, no peroxide, and SLS. (cc Rebecca Linneweber & Diana Zur Löwen) 🦷 happybrush GmbH - local German hero, available at dm and Rossmann. Proved a German startup can take shelf space from P&G, with a main focus on hardware. (cc Florian Kiener) Which brand did I miss? Drop the name in the comments 👇 #oralcare #cpg #consumerhealth #startups