Around 2015, oral care began receiving the shelfie treatment.
Quip launched affordable direct-to-consumer toothbrushes, while brands like Boka, RiseWell, and Davids introduced wellness-savvy consumers to ingredients like nano-hydroxyapatite, a tooth-remineralizing ingredient—all presented in chic, Instagram-worthy designs.
A decade later, oral care is experiencing a second wave.
Many of the latest entrants still favor the “cleaner” formulations and elevated aesthetics associated with their predecessors, but these brands are operating with a broader definition of the category—one informed by a deeper understanding of the oral microbiome and a wider view of products that fit into the space. This time, oral care brands are thinking beyond the toothbrush: Toothpaste and floss now share the bathroom counter with mouth tape and lip balm.
If the first wave made oral care more aesthetically appealing and perhaps “cleaner,” the second is attempting to make it more holistic. Today’s brands are borrowing skincare’s familiar ingredients, specialized treatments, multistep regimens, and ritual-driven marketing to transform an essential health habit into a broader wellness routine. The global oral care market is poised for significant expansion, nearly doubling from $37.8 billion in 2023 to a projected $73 billion by 2033, according to Mintel. Recent results already show momentum, with value sales rising 4.6% in both China and the UK and an estimated 2.5% in the US in their latest reported years. Mintel forecasts that the global market will grow at a CAGR of 6.8% through 2033.
“The first wave, in my opinion, was marketing specific. It was all about the aesthetics of the brand, and it was more lifestyle forward,” said Sarah Mountcastle Mitchell, General Manager of the oral care brand Boka. Launched in 2015, Boka was acquired by Heyday Group in 2022. Heyday was later acquired by Branded, which then formed Essor Group.“What we’ve seen with the newer wave is that consumers are not wanting to sacrifice efficacy or clean ingredients for the brand,” she told BeautyMatter.
Köppen, which formally launched in April after starting as an Ayurvedic marketplace, was quickly picked up by sibling fashion retailers Revolve and FWRD. Priya Shah, co-founder of Köppen, said that consumers are increasingly willing to engage deeply with their health—from supplements and movement, to mental well-being. Oral care, however, remains comparatively overlooked, even though we all have some kind of oral care routine, “at least brushing our teeth twice a day.” Still, for most of us, a more comprehensive oral care routine that truly addresses everything that takes place in our mouths hasn’t become a true habit. “It’s like an afterthought … and there’s so much happening,” Shah told BeautyMatter, referring to growing research and interest surrounding the oral microbiome.
Köppen’s eight-product assortment stretches the definition of oral care into a three-phase system, which moves from “detox” products, including a copper tongue scraper and corresponding stone base and an oil-pulling product, to its “Protect” phase, which includes the most classic elements of an oral care routine—toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash—before concluding with its “Support” phase products: lip balm, mouth tape, and mints.
The brand’s mints are one example of how it is reconsidering familiar products through an oral health lens. Many traditional mints contain sugar, Shah said, which can contribute not only to cavities but also to dry mouth. Köppen instead formulated its mints with hydroxyapatite, the same mineral found in teeth and bones (and so many newer toothpastes). According to Shah, the ingredient supports the health of the oral microbiome, while delivering “the vanity benefit we all want, which is fresh breath.”
The brand’s expansive assortment reflects a greater shift across the category: Emerging brands are increasingly treating the mouth as an interconnected ecosystem rather than focusing solely on brushing and flossing.
In June, San Francisco–based dentist Dr. Eve Lofthus launched Evenmouth, a brand built around microbiome science that debuted with a toothpaste ($18) and Multi Biotic Dental Drops ($30). It is, for the time being, sold direct-to-consumer and on Amazon. The oral microbiome, she explained, “is the community of bacteria that live in our mouth. It's the second largest biome outside of our gut … When we talk about ‘What does oral health look like?’, the best definition we have is a balanced oral microbiome.”
Rather than attempting to eliminate bacteria indiscriminately, the emerging philosophy emphasizes maintaining a balance between health-associated species and potential pathogens. Cosmetic dentist Dr. Arthur Glosman, who is unaffiliated with any specific brand, described the same evolution. “I think we’re moving away from the philosophy of killing bacteria,” he told BeautyMatter. “We’re not trying to nuke all the bacteria. Biology has to be balanced.”
Dr. Lofthus, who stepped away from clinical practice in 2024 to focus on Evenmouth, said interest in the oral microbiome was increasingly coming directly from patients. They were asking about the potential relationship between oral bacteria and whole-body health, including cardiovascular health. Lofthus noted that it is perhaps unsurprising that patients are asking about the oral microbiome, given that it has been discussed on popular podcasts including Huberman Lab and The Diary of a CEO.
Boka, best known for its nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste, is adapting to that interest as well. In September 2025, the brand launched a probiotic toothpaste ($14). “Consumers might not be searching for probiotic toothpaste [specifically], but when you talk about the benefits and the ingredient story, it makes a lot of sense within the broader oral microbiome,” Mountcastle Mitchell said.
Boka is showing that the demand for more elevated oral care spreads across all household incomes: “One of the cool things that I like to tell people is that we're one of the few beauty and personal care brands that are available at Erewhon and Walmart,” Mountcastle Mitchell said. Other retailers include Target, CVS, and Amazon. Last November, it launched a smoothie at Erewhon inspired by the flavor of its mint toothpaste.
A search for toothpaste on Revolve will bring up brands like Supersmile, which has been around since 1987, toothpaste from beauty brands like Agent Nateur, and of course, Marvis, the original apothecary-chic tube. Ulta Beauty offers an extensive range now too, including brands like Moon Oral Care, the TikTok Shop–popular GuruNanda, as well as Supersmile, to name a few.
For consumers willing to shop for oral care DTC, French oral care brand The Smilery came to the US in July and its products are available on its own site. Bastét launched in June with one nano-hydroxyapatite (nHa) toothpaste sold direct-to-consumer and via a number of specialty retailers like The Look and Co. Luxury oral care brand Arame, which launched in August 2025 is sold direct-to-consumer and at boutique stores like Pop Up Grocer, as well as at Wildflower Auberge Resort in the Hudson Valley.
New York City–based cosmetic dentist Dr. Victoria Veytsman intentionally positioned her brand to sit adjacent to traditional beauty products. “When people look at [Rose Code], they say, ‘Oh, this looks like makeup. Can I get this at Sephora?’” Dr. Veytsman said of early responses to her line. That means she’s done her job—one of her goals, she said, was to create something that “could sit on a retail shelf right next to makeup.”
“The beauty [space] is really interesting because it's been so forgotten with the mouth, it's been skin care, hair care, etc,” Dr. Lofthus said, “But [oral care] is such a foundation to beauty, and the lines between beauty and wellness have really blown up.” To prove her own point, Evenmouth became the “official oral care sponsor”—a first for any oral care brand—at New York Fashion Week, partnering with Rachel Comey at the fashion brand’s September NYFW show.
Behind oral care’s latest product boom is a larger debate. Hydroxyapatite is emerging as oral care’s breakout ingredient: According to Spate’s monthly popularity metric, which measures increases in average monthly popularity year over year, from May 2025 to April 2026, the ingredient’s cross-platform popularity increased by over 412,000 points, while nano-hydroxyapatite gained 207,800 points and hydroxyapatite toothpaste added 3 million to the full year. More recent Spate data, covering August 2025 through July 2026, gives hydroxyapatite an average monthly popularity score of 2.2 million, compared with fluoride’s 8.7 million, although interest in fluoride is declining. Meanwhile, the popularity score for “fluoride-free” products rose 85.3% year over year, an increase of 1.4 million.
All that said, the ingredient does not yet have the depth of research supporting it that fluoride has, which has been studied for decades.
Fluoride remains American dentistry’s gold standard for cavity prevention, backed by decades of clinical evidence and recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an active ingredient in over-the-counter (OTC) cavity-prevention products. Hydroxyapatite (and nano-hydroxyapatite), a synthetic version of the mineral that makes up most of tooth enamel, has produced encouraging results in a growing number of clinical trials, including studies in which it performed comparably to fluoride. But its evidence base remains smaller and less standardized, and several prominent studies have been funded, at least in part, by toothpaste manufacturers. In the US, hydroxyapatite is not recognized by the FDA as an active ingredient for preventing cavities, meaning brands can formulate products with it but cannot market them for cavity prevention without obtaining separate regulatory approval.
Consumer enthusiasm for microbiome-focused ingredients may be developing faster than the evidence supporting individual products. “There are probiotics and postbiotics that are used in mouthwashes, toothpaste, and things of that nature, which I think are great,” Dr. Glosman said. “I just don’t know if there’s a lot of data behind them, yet.”
Evenmouth’s first toothpaste ($18) contains micro-hydroxyapatite, a larger version of the ingredient, but Dr. Lofthus is quick to say that the formula was not built around that ingredient alone. Moreover, the brand plans to introduce a fluoride formula early next year, underscoring that emerging oral care brands do not uniformly reject traditional actives. Because fluoride is regulated by the FDA as an OTC cavity-prevention drug ingredient, Dr. Lofthus said developing and launching the formula will take the brand approximately a year and a half in total, a process reminiscent of bringing a sunscreen to market.
The beauty industry is supplying the second wave of oral care with familiar ingredients.
Boka, for example, reformulated its Whitening Powder ($21) as an adjunct treatment. “Think of it almost like a [face] mask,” Mountcastle Mitchell said. The new formulation contains ingredients that skincare-savvy consumers will recognize, including niacinamide and vitamins C and E.
The brand is also attempting to bring the intentionality consumers already have around their beauty regimens to the bathroom sink. “The thing that always surprises me is that there's so much ritual around the ‘get ready with me’ [in beauty],” Mountcastle Mitchell said. “There's all this thought and intention behind skincare. And you literally brush your teeth twice a day. You ingest some of the toothpaste! [But] that same intentionality and routine just gets forgotten, and there's this huge opportunity to take the routine [we have around beauty] and expand it into oral care. We've always said that your health begins with the mouth, so it makes a lot of sense to continue that momentum.” To that end, Boka is now sharing “GRWM” content modeled after the format popularized by beauty creators. This content incorporates foundational products alongside less conventional additions such as the aforementioned whitening powder, tongue scrapers, and waterless mouthwash tablets.
Dr. Veytsman soft-launched Rose Code last September with a collection of serum-esque dental treatments, designed to look and feel more like cosmetics than conventional oral care products.
The assortment includes a whitening stylus ($35); an enamel-correcting toner ($35) designed to help neutralize the appearance of stains; and the Blueprint Rx Gum Health Infusion ($35), which the brand says supports the oral microbiome.
“All of our products include skincare-grade ingredients … that are not normally found in oral care products,” Dr. Veytsman told BeautyMatter. Inspired by Clinique’s original three-step system, she organized Rose Code around different morning and evening treatments. “We use skincare ingredients like antioxidants, niacinamide, probiotics, plant stem cells, and hyaluronic acid,” she said.
The Smilery, which came to the US with a small handful of products it offers in France under the name The Smilist, offers a sequence of products inspired by the steps in a skincare routine, said co-founder François Bonnat. “For her [his mother and co-founder, holistic dentist Dr. Christiane Bonnat], it was about more than oral hygiene. It was more about having a ritual, like skincare, having different steps, different products for each part of the mouth—for the tongue, for the enamel, for the gums—and I think one of our key differentiators is how we talk about it, like skincare, like beauty.” He cited the brand’s Tooth Whitening Night Serum, noting that the packaging is the same as that of a skincare serum and that the ingredients are skincare-adjacent, including prebiotics and pomegranate enzymes.
Mouth Loob, a soon-to-launch brand, is addressing dry mouth with its hero SKU, a mouthwash called the Hydrating Mouth Serum. When co-founder Ally Weiss pitched the idea to Ashley Schroeder, Schroeder immediately knew how she’d market it. "It's skincare for your mouth … This is the bridge. It's simple. It's clear,” she said, explaining that the debut product includes a “therapeutic dose” of hyaluronic acid.
“[Hyaluronic acid] is naturally occurring in the body, so the body's super receptive to it,” Schroeder said. Because it absorbs more readily on wet surfaces, she added, it is “made for the mouth.” The ingredient coats the mouth’s tissues, helping them remain moist and comfortable, while the formula’s balanced pH helps neutralize the mouth and freshen breath.
The use of familiar skincare ingredients gives oral care brands an existing language through which to communicate benefits in a different domain.
After COVID, Shah observed, there was a rush to “optimize everything,” she said, noting an increased focus on supplements, the current rise of (unregulated) peptides, workout routines, everything showers, etc. “And I think there are a lot of folks who are holding on to that, but [there are also] a lot of folks who are like, ‘I need to strip this down because it's starting to become unsustainable with my lifestyle.’” Oral care, however, stays in the mix. Tooth brushing, after all, remains essential. And Köppen’s multistep oral care routine offers customers a way to build that out a bit, or simply mix and match the elements they want to adapt. After all, she said “Floss does something very specific that toothpaste can't. A tongue scraper does something very specific that a floss can't.”
Compliance could be aided by making these products things that are nice to look at, or that a consumer is proud to display—and when it comes to oral care, compliance is everything. “No one I know is putting their oral care on their countertop. They're tucking it away in their drawer—I'm guilty of it, too. My skincare, my bodycare, my haircare, I'm like, let me proudly display this because it's also a moment that is a ritual for me,” Shah said, adding that she hopes Köppen will make oral care a similarly visible and valued part of customers’ routines.
Dr. Veytsman tested Rose Code with her patients before launching it and had the same note about usage when it comes to oral care products: “[We had to] find out are people going to comply and actually use it? Because I know as a dentist, like you tell people to floss, [but] are they actually doing it?”
Retailers are not the only ones taking a closer look at oral care. Investors are also beginning to see an opportunity in brands that can bring beauty’s margins, branding, and product-development cadence to an essential—and highly replenishable—category.
The space has seen several meaningful exits already, in addition to Boka’s aforementioned exit. In 2020, Hello, known for its “friendly” toothpaste, was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive for a reported $351 million. In 2021, Church & Dwight acquired mouthwash brand TheraBreath for $580 million.
Investors have already demonstrated an appetite for emerging oral care companies, although funding has largely flowed to brands offering new devices, distribution models, or consumer experiences. Quip raised $100 million in 2021, bringing its total reported funding to more than $160 million, while Burst Oral Care secured a Series C investment led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity in 2020 after previously raising $20 million. Electric-flosser brand Flaus has also reportedly raised more than $4 million, including a $2 million seed round led by Yeti Capital and a $250,000 investment from Candace Nelson following an appearance on Shark Tank. Through a friends-and-family and angel funding round, Mouth Loob has secured backing from Heather Loomis Tighe, founder of Loomis Capital Management; creator Robyn DelMonte (aka @girlbosstown) and Steven Vigilante, Olipop’s Director of Media and Partnerships and a member of its founding team are advisors.
As oral care’s next phase takes shape and the category adopts beauty’s ingredients, routines, and retail positioning, its challenge will be turning increased attention into consistent, evidence-based habits—not simply convincing consumers they need more products. After all, “Sometimes it’s the simple things that we do—like brushing and flossing—that can create health and longevity,” Dr. Glosman said.