Engineering:Oral-B Glide
Oral-B Glide is a PTFE (Teflon) dental floss manufactured by W. L. Gore and Associates exclusively for Procter & Gamble.
History
The origin of Glide (which is what the brand was called prior to the P&G acquisition) dates to 1971, when Bill Gore first used a Gore-Tex fiber to floss his own teeth;[1] Gore-Tex was the PTFE-based fiber he had invented as a "waterproof laminate". The company failed to market the product for more than three decades. Ultimately, it succeeded by marketing to dentists rather than selling the floss as a consumer product. It was widely adopted, and grew to be the #1 brand of floss in dental office use, and #2 floss in retail.[1]
In September 2003, Gore sold the brand to Procter & Gamble, who at the time announced its intention to brand the product under the Crest product line.[2] The terms of the sale provided that Gore would continue to manufacture and develop the product.[3] In 2010, Procter & Gamble rebranded the product as Oral-B Glide.
Popularity and sales
In 2006, Crest Glide was the second-ranked brand of dental floss in the United States, with sales (in supermarkets and drug stores) of $22 million and a market share of 18.8%, just behind Johnson & Johnson Reach.[4]
Environmental and health concerns
Environmentalists have recommended non-PTFE brands, discouraging the use of the environmentally unfriendly Teflon.[5] There is also a health concern given the use of perfluorooctanoic acid, a possible carcinogen, in the making of Teflon.[6] A 2019 study showed that some women who had flossed with Glide had elevated levels of perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) in their blood compared to non-flossers, and fluorine compounds were identified in Glide (as well as 5 other brands of floss out of 18 brands tested).[7] Procter & Gamble, however, disputes this finding.[8] "The study, led by Silent Spring Institute in collaboration with the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, CA, appears online ... in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE), and is part of a special issue dedicated to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)."[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thatchenkery, Tojo; Metzker, Carol (2006). Appreciative intelligence: seeing the mighty oak in the acorn. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-57675-353-8. https://archive.org/details/appreciativeinte0000that.
- ↑ Ellison, Sarah (September 17, 2003). "Procter & Gamble To Buy Glide Floss". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10637558338169300.
- ↑ "Procter & Gamble to buy Glide floss business". Reuters. September 17, 2003.
- ↑ Lazich, Robert S. (2007). Market Share Reporter 2007: An Annual Compilation of Reported Market Share Data on Companies, Products, and Services. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Group. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-7876-9462-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=5IkYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Crest+Glide%22. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ↑ Vasil, Adria (September 1, 2005). "All things dental Brush, gargle and floss your way to a naturally clean smile". Now (Toronto). http://www.nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/ecoholic.cfm?content=149058&archive=24,52,2005. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
- ↑ Vasial, Adria (2009). Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products, and Services. New York: Norton. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0-393-33428-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=a_u_CZAOtOwC&pg=PA21.
- ↑ Boronow, Katherine E.; Brody, Julia Green; Schaider, Laurel A.; Peaslee, Graham F.; Havas, Laurie; Cohn, Barbara A. (January 8, 2019). "Serum concentrations of PFASs and exposure-related behaviors in African American and non-Hispanic white women". Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 29 (2): 206–217. doi:10.1038/s41370-018-0109-y. PMID 30622332.
- ↑ Davenport, Liam. "Certain Dental Flosses Raise Body Levels of Toxic Chemicals". WebMD, LLC. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/907740?nlid=127199_1361&src=WNL_mdplsnews_190118_mscpedit_emed&uac=157747MR&spon=45&impID=1863167&faf=1#vp_2. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ↑ "Dental flossing and other behaviors linked with higher levels of PFAS in the body". Silent Spring Institute. January 8, 2019. https://silentspring.org/news/dental-flossing-and-other-behaviors-linked-higher-levels-pfas-body. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
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