By Mieke Meintjes
Oral care is shifting from uniform, function-first products to personalized solutions that consider consumers’ overall health, beauty, and lifestyle demands.
We speak with industry experts at Unilever and Kenvue to explore the drivers behind this holistic oral care movement. We discuss the importance of the mouth’s microbiome in R&D, the growing trend of oral care as a beauty routine, and the role of AI in the industry’s transformation.
“In society today, consumer expectations have evolved well beyond the traditional view of oral care as purely functional. People now seek targeted, multi-benefit solutions that address both therapeutic needs and cosmetic aspirations, with a strong preference for products that feel pleasurable to use,” Gaurav Datta, global VP Asia for Skin Cleansing and Oral Care at Unilever, tells Personal Care Insights.Datta explains that several converging trends are shaping the future of oral care.
One driver is the growing role of a healthy smile in self-expression. Consumers, especially younger ones, increasingly view whitening and alignment as part of their beauty routine.
