Oral health is both a sign of overall health and a way to protect it. Fresh breath and a nice smile are great short-term motivators, but good oral care also has big long-term benefits. Our mouths are a key part of the body’s defense system — they’re constantly exposed to bacteria when we eat, talk, and breathe. That’s why it’s so important to keep them healthy and strong, especially as we age and the effects of our habits build up. Poor oral health has been linked to higher risks of chronic diseases, including heart disease and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Today, the oral care market is valued at over $12B in the U.S. and is expected to reach nearly $17B by the mid 2030s, growing at a 3.7% CAGR. As people focus on how to increase their healthspan (the number of healthy years), maintaining good oral health is essential.

Like most health problems, we are conditioned to wait and treat instead of focusing on preventative care. Only a little more than half of the American population visits dental clinics for regular preventative health checkups which are essential for maintaining oral health and identifying any issues early. This leads to a higher cost of care and less favorable outcomes with a higher risk of other detrimental health conditions. Oral care influences many aspects of overall health including cardiovascular, metabolic, brain health, and immunity. Understanding our oral health and adopting healthy oral care habits is essential for longevity.

Source: Expert Market Research

There are three key areas for growth in the oral care space that we are excited about today: 1. making daily oral care routines more fun and engaging, 2. building an optimized oral care routine that considers long-term health implications, and 3. using oral health as a diagnostic tool in assessing overall health.

1. Make daily oral care routines more fun and engaging

We are excited about emerging brands that are making essential daily oral hygiene more fun and engaging.

A study published in PubMed Central on the prevalence of daily flossing among adults in the U.S. found that only 32% of adults over the age of 30 floss on a daily basis. Despite daily flossing being proven to prevent dental plaque build up which can lead to chronic periodontal disease, most people aren’t doing it. There are likely two issues that are causing this: first, there may be a lack of education on the importance of daily flossing (especially if people are not going in for preventative dental cleanings), and second, even if people are aware of the importance of daily flossing, it feels like a chore.

Cocolab is a great example of a brand that is trying to change this. The company is best known for its fun flavored floss, offering seasonal flavor drops such as lychee breeze, summer watermelon, and gelato affogato for this summer season. By creating fun and novel flavors for people to cycle through, Cocolab customers enjoy and look forward to daily flossing and trying out the latest flavor drops. It seems simple, but by making the act of flossing more enjoyable, brands like Cocolab are helping people adopt daily behaviors that are essential to their long-term health.

Cocolab offers fun seasonal flavors like Summer Watermelon and Lychee Breeze, turning daily flossing from a dreaded chore into a fun moment of self-care.

Slate is another brand trying to make flossing more easy and engaging with their dentist-designed electric flosser. The flosser makes it easier to remove plaque, massage the gums, and promote blood flow with its vibrating technology. This brand brings an element of delight to the experience of daily flossing as well as better results that consumers are missing in their traditional, boring flossing routines.

Image from Slate’s website that emphasizes the importance of daily flossing and how Slate can make that habit easier.

We are excited to watch Cocolab, Slate, and others turn a large and stale oral care market into a more fun and engaging set of offerings that allows a broader group of consumers to look forward to their daily oral hygiene routines. While daily brushing and flossing may not seem like “biohacking for longevity”, these simple daily practices will be transformative if more consumers are able to stay consistent.

2. Build more optimized oral care routines with longevity in mind

The next area of oral care that is emerging is the more optimized routine with a deeper understanding of how oral health impacts overall health. This is for the longevity minded person who is already lifting weights, increasing protein intake, and wearing a health tracker. Getting stronger and improving body composition for long term health is great, but you need your gums, teeth, and oral microbiome to hold up in the long term too.

Longevity experts like Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia have highlighted the importance of oral care in overall health. Below is an excerpt from Peter Attia’s best selling longevity book, Outlive which addresses how to live longer and better. The paragraph below is from his section on neurodegenerative disease, highlighting the importance of oral health due to its association with Alzheimer’s and other chronic disease.

Andrew Huberman has recorded two podcasts (nearly 5 hours of content) on the importance of oral health over the past 2 years. In these episodes, he provides in depth information on the oral microbiome and why taking care of oral health isn’t just about fresh breath or preventing cavities — it’s essential for reducing systemic inflammation and supporting metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive health.

Huberman dives into the debate on fluoride, educates on saliva pH and de/remineralization, and best oral care practices. He also discusses the link of oral health to overall health outcomes, making his protocols for oral care more compelling. Beyond brushing and flossing daily, he mentions less common practices like tongue scraping, mouth rinses, oil pulling, and oral probiotics. He also touches on the importance of breathing correctly, staying hydrated, and optimizing diet which also have significant implications beyond oral health.

Andrew Huberman has recorded two podcast episodes on the importance of Oral Health over the past 2 years.

As more people focus on longevity across different aspects of their lives, oral care will continue to be an important part of the conversation. Innovative tools, products, and brands that help people understand and adopt better daily oral care habits will become even more valuable as more people optimize for long-term health.

3. Using oral health as a diagnostic tool in assessing overall health

The last area of oral health that we are diving into is the rise of diagnostics that are using oral health as an indicator of overall health. For over 2,000 years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has had a holistic view of oral health, using tongue analysis to assess the health of internal organs. The tongue is viewed as a mirror of the health of the overall system and serves as a diagnostic tool for whole-body health. Below is an example of how TCM interprets the appearance of the tongue to assess overall health.

Several emerging companies are using the oral microbiome to assess overall health. Eli Health is the first at-home hormone test that uses your saliva to provide real-time health insights. Viome offers an Oral Health Intelligence Test that provides unique insights on your oral microbiome and helps customers enhance their oral care routine with personalized products. These examples show the power of oral health in providing deep health insights as well as being an important component of a health routine. We are excited to see continued innovation in the space.s

Conclusion

I’ll be honest, before digging into the space through the lens of longevity, I was not a diligent daily flosser. It always felt like a chore and the first thing to drop from my morning or nighttime routine when I was in a rush. I didn’t understand how much the simple habit was impacting my overall health for years to come. It’s now a nonnegotiable in my routine. So the next time you pick up your toothbrush or floss, know that you’re doing more than just cleaning your teeth — you are investing in your longevity.