Why is toothpaste minty

And people began to equate that tingling feeling with good dental hygiene. And as a result they began to crave it. It stays in the mouth for a little bit, prolonging this clean sensation. A spokesperson for Colgate-Palmolive said the company is the biggest buyer of U. Mint is grown primarily in the Pacific Northwest Washington, Oregon and Idaho , with smaller crops coming from several Midwestern states.

Washington State is the top producer in the U. His family operates a farm in Othello, Washington, about miles east of Seattle. The farm raises several spearmint varieties on about 1, acres — not even a very large farm by local standards, said Christensen. The plants are perennial, returning for five to eight years, and grow to several feet high by late summer. We hook up a steam line on the bottom. Catalina Lee said the dominance of mint as a flavoring in dental products comes down to consumer preference.

She said the company has introduced non-mint flavors over the years, but few have taken off. There are a few alternatives available — such as cinnamon and baking soda — and Lee said many children prefer strawberry and other fruit flavors. In some countries, non-mint flavors are more popular, she said. And in China they like tea flavors, floral flavors. Jasmine is very well-liked.

Our mission at Marketplace is to raise the economic intelligence of the country. To understand how we got to the dominant taste of our paste, we have to take a brief! Toothpaste dates back to about BC, with the Egyptians getting credit for the first version of the stuff. While the contents of early forms varied, they often contained abrasive materials such as pumice, burnt eggshells, and ashes from the hooves of oxen sounds scrub-tastic, right?

People in ancient Greece and Rome, meanwhile, used crushed oyster shells and bones. Thousands of years later the oldest-known "recipe" for toothpaste surfaced in Egypt and included mint, pepper, dried iris flowers, and rock salt. Centuries later, researchers replicated this formula and tested it out, revealing the results at a gathering of dental professionals in Vienna in Their conclusion?

It was then that a new toothpaste called Pepsodent hit the market, backed by a brilliant ad campaign that succeeded in positioning tooth brushing as a very necessary and rewarding habit. In short, by using the power of psychology to associate the feeling of a fresh, minty mouth with clean teeth. The creative mind behind that campaign, a successful ad man by the name of Claude C. The additions masked the flavor of baking soda and other ingredients and kept the product fresh on the shelves longer.

But consumers remembered the cool, tingling sensation that came from brushing with mint-flavored Pepsodent. Charles Duhigg writes about this effect in his book, The Power of Habit. People wanted healthy, white teeth.

But what made brushing an unshakable habit was the feeling they got when they did it. If you can tie your offering to a feeling, you have a much better chance of becoming a habit with your customers.