Dental Tribune MEA: Firstly, can you give us some background on Beverly Hills Formula and its overall vision?
Chris Dodd: When Eric Peterson established the Beverly Hills Formula brand back in 1992, the majority of whitening toothpastes around were very abrasive and were responsible for tooth sensitivity and damage to the enamel.
And so it became the company’s aim to provide whitening toothpaste that enabled everyone to attain high stain removal and effective tooth whitening results, without damaging the enamel. This was, and continues to be, the core vision of the company and Beverly Hills Formula brand.

Beverly Hills Formula whitening toothpaste has been in the oral care health and beauty sector for over 20 years now. Where do you think the success lies?
We continuously strive to enhance our product offering and one of our latest developments is Perfect White Black toothpaste. Ideally placed to compliment the Perfect White range, Perfect White Black helps those who suffer from bad breath achieve a Hollywood smile with its high performance ‘activated charcoal’ whitening whilst experiencing a fresh breath feeling.
Innovation, high stain removal but low abrasivity are key factors for Beverly Hills Formula and it is important to us to always be using the highest quality of ingredients to ensure the quality of our products are next to none. This is why I believe Beverly Hills Formula remains successful over 20 years since the brand was born.

Tooth whitening is one of the fastest growing markets in the dental sector. Why do you think this is?
In today’s image-conscious society, more and more celebrities are opting for tooth whitening, veneers, or other cosmetic procedures, in order to attain a bright, white smile, aka the “Hollywood Smile”. Quite simply, if people aren’t happy with their appearance, including their teeth, this can impact on their confidence, self-esteem and happiness. As a result, patients are increasingly turning to their dentists and dental hygienists, asking “How can I achieve whiter teeth?” Add to this, a recent survey that revealed, nearly one in five (18%!) find stained teeth a real turn off (1), it’s no wonder why teeth whitening has become a fast growing market within dentistry.

With an array of tooth whitening products on the shelves, what makes your whitening toothpaste stand out from the crowd?
Taste, brand, image and ability to combat common dental problems are all common factors for choosing toothpaste, but not many look beyond the attractive packaging and into the ingredients. One of our core values is to continue to spend resources on enhancing the quality of the product and ingredients going inside the tubes instead of excessive packaging and spin marketing. The result? Low abrasion toothpastes with high stain removal, helping to protect the patient’s oral health whilst enhancing their smile.

Sensitivity is a common problem, especially after professional tooth whitening. Is there anything dentists can do to help alleviate this discomfort for patients?
After in-surgery tooth whitening treatment patients can be experience sensitivity, this can be anything from a mild twinge to having severe discomfort that can last for several hours, or even days. Highly abrasive toothpastes can add to this pain, as they continue to wear away the enamel. For this reason, patients should use a low abrasion, desensitising, whitening toothpaste that contains the ingredient Potassium Nitrate. Those who require extra sensitivity relief with an extra whitening boost will appreciate Beverly Hills Formula Perfect White Sensitive toothpaste.
Combining the advanced Hydrated Silica for high performance whitening with Potassium Nitrate for rapid sensitivity, patients can start to enjoy acidic foods and drinks once again whilst leaving teeth looking and feeling brighter. Regular use will also help to prevent tartar build-up and relieve tooth sensitivity, effectively protecting and whitening teeth whilst allowing patients to maintain good oral care.

There has been some speculation that whitening toothpastes aren’t effective. Is this true?
Many dental professionals and patients assume that all whitening toothpastes do not live up to their claims but this is not true. Contrary to this, it is important that toothpastes, which safely and effectively whiten teeth and are proven to work, are brought to your patients’ attention. In 2012 a UK Dental School performed an in-vitro laboratory study. Its aim was to measure stain removal in order to discover how effective various toothpastes were at removing dietary stains from Perspex, compared to water.

The laboratory tests revealed that stain removal was performed after just one minute. Of the products tested, Beverly Hills Formula Perfect White toothpaste scored exceptionally well, removing nearly 91% of stains over a five minute period (2). Meanwhile other leading brands of whitening toothpaste and toothpolishes scored as low as 41%, a remarkably low percentage considering water alone removes 48% of staining.

How about their abrasivity? How safe are whitening toothpastes?
There is a misconception that to removal dental stains caused by smoking and some foods and drinks, patients need to resort to products that contain harsh abrasives. This is now the case. We recommend that patients use whitening toothpastes that contain Hydrated Silica, like our
Perfect White range. This low abrasive polishing ingredient, which is frequently combined with the softer calcium carbonate to provide a smooth gel-like quality, works hard to remove plaque and stains and whiten the teeth.

This mild abrasive is harmless and is even listed by the US Food and Drug Administrative as “Generally Recognised as Safe”. Toothpaste abrasiveness is measured by RDA (relative dentin abrasivity) value, and any figure over 100 is considered to be “abrasive”. In July 2012, a USA-based independent testing laboratory tested the abrasivity levels of 15 toothpastes. The results confirmed that Beverly Hills Formula’s whitening toothpaste is less abrasive than both regular and whitening toothpaste brands. Some brands scored as high as 138 whilst Beverly Hills Formula scored 95 on the Abrasivity Index Table. We at Beverly Hills Formula are proud of our low abrasion products and use every opportunity to include abrasivity information on the packs, as we believe that consumers have the right to make well informative choices.

Finally, can we expect to see any new and exciting developments at Beverly Hills Formula over the coming months?
We continuously strive to enhance our product offering and our next developments will be Perfect White Gold toothpaste and Perfect White Black Mouthwash. Perfect White Gold, incorporating gold elements to help in the whitening toothpaste, contains excellent anti-bacterial properties and a refreshing double mint flavour.
The new Perfect White Black mouthwash contains the same whitening activated charcoal ingredient and complements the toothpaste making these products the perfect marriage.

References
(1) Is a healthy mouth the key to getting a date? http://www.dentalhealth.org/news/details/601
(2) Beverly Hills Formula stain removal study: http://beverlyhillsformula.com/the-science/stain-removal/