Colgate-Palmolive Seeks Higher Margins, New Markets via Tooth Whitening Tool Sold Through Dentists

Health and beauty stalwart Colgate-Palmolive is growing into a new market — and following in the footsteps of its Hill’s Science Diet pet food line sold through veterinarians — with Colgate Illuminator, a teeth-whitening tool sold through dentists.

Colgate-Palmolive and digital dentistry 3D scanner software and service platform 3Shape announced the partnership Monday (Jan. 24), saying the Colgate Illuminator will “enable more accurate consultations and deliver an improved patient experience,” according to the Monday (Jan. 24) announcement.

“Colgate believes bright futures start with beautiful, healthy smiles,” Colgate-Palmolive Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Maria Ryan said in the announcement. “We’re proud that the Colgate Illuminator improves the whitening experience for both dentists and patients.

The “predictive, innovative tool” lets dentists personalize the dental whitening experience by showing patients how their teeth could look using the product, Ryan said. “And we believe patients are going to love seeing what is possible and how their bright new smile could look.”

The Colgate Illuminator is called an “in-clinic predictive tool that shows personalized results for consumers of Colgate’s high-impact teeth whitening product, Colgate Optic White Professional,” according to the announcement.

Dentists can access the Colgate Illuminator software through the 3Shape Unite digital dentistry platform and give patients a scan that shows a simulation of the predicted outcome from the whitening treatment. 3Shape’s new software is available to dentists as an in-clinic app. It uses an “evidence-based algorithm” to show an interactive before-and-after patient photo in seconds.

The 3Shape software provides a predictive preview of how the patient’s teeth will look after the treatment, in an effort to remove the guesswork and some of the patients’ apprehension.

“We’ve created a smile whitening simulation tool that has the potential to really help ease patients’ aesthetic concerns: it’s fast and powerful,” 3Shape CEO Jakob Just-Bomholt said in the announcement. “Colgate customers can now have quick and simple dentist consultations that model realistic predicted whitening transformations as part of a tailor-made experience.”

Related: Colgate-Palmolive Goes Direct to Consumer to Boost Sales in Asia

In December, Colgate-Palmolive partnered with Singapore-based eCommerce giant Shopee to help the beauty brand grow its sales in the region by a factor of 20 times over the next four years. Colgate-Palmolive is also a strategic partner under Shopee’s Regional Champion Brands Programme.