Oral-B

Oral-B is an American brand of oral hygiene products, including toothpastes, toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes, and mouthwashes. The brand has been in business since the invention of the Hutson toothbrush in 1950. It has been owned by American multinational Procter & Gamble (P&G) since 2006.

Oral-B
Product typeOral hygiene
OwnerProcter & Gamble
CountryUnited States
IntroducedJanuary 13, 1950 (1950-01-13)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous ownersThe Gillette Company
Websiteoralb.com
The logo of Oral-B used from 1965 to 1980

History

Dr. Robert W. Hutson (1920–2001),[1] a Californian periodontist, designed and patented a toothbrush in 1950. The application for a design patent for his "Hutson toothbrush" was filed on January 13, 1950, and U.S. Design Patent No. 160,604 was granted on October 24 the same year.[2] In 1958, he was granted a utility patent for a "mouthbrush" having numerous fine, soft, flat-ended nylon bristles, and a similar appearance to the 1950 design.[3] He claimed in his application that this brush was less abrasive to tooth enamel, better for massaging the gums, and more effective at picking up tooth powder than other brushes available at the time, which had coarse, angle-cut bristles.

He also created the Oral-B brand name. The first product was known as the "Oral-B 60", because it had 60 tufts.[4] Other sizes were made with differing numbers of tufts and corresponding names.[1] Dr. Hutson sold his toothbrush business in the 1960s, and continued his San Jose periodontal practice.[1]

Oral-B became part of the Gillette group in 1984.[5] Braun, also part of the Gillette group at that time, started to use the Oral-B brand for electric toothbrushes. Oral-B has been part of the Procter & Gamble company since 2006.[6] A company representative has stated that the "B" in Oral-B stands for "brush".[7][8]

In 2013, singer Shakira was chosen as the brand ambassador and spokesperson for the 3D White property.[9]

Innovations
  • 1991: bristle color fades with wear (Indicator toothbrush, Edison Awards winner)[10][11]
  • 1998: angled bristles (CrossAction toothbrush)[10]

See also

References
  1. Hall, Carl (26 May 2001). "Dr. Robert W. Hutson – Oral B originator [obituary]". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  2. US patent D160604 http://www.google.com/patents/USD160604.
  3. US patent 2845649 http://www.google.com/patents/US2845649
  4. "About us: History of Oral-B". oralb.com.
  5. Bailey, Steve; Aoki, Naomi (28 January 2005). "P&G to buy Gillette for $55b: Latest in string of deals for old-line Hub firms". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2014-08-03.
  6. "About Oral-B". oralb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
  7. http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question96866.html
  8. "Electric Toothbrush Catalog". Sunday, May 31, 2020
  9. "Shakira Named New Global Ambassador Across the Worldwide 3D White Collection from Oral-B and Crest | P&G News | Events, Multimedia, Public Relations". news.pg.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  10. "Oral-B". Procter & Gamble (Hong Kong). Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  11. US 4802255, Breuer, Miklos M. & Joseph A. Hanak, "Novel brush filaments", published 7 February 1989, filed 10 August 1987. Granted to Gillette Canada. http://www.google.com/patents/US4802255
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