Odontomer Preservative-free oral and dental hygiene products based on marine active substances

The ODONTOMER project set out to use seawater and seaweed extracts as the ingredients for oral and dental hygiene products, such as toothpaste and mouthwash.

The project's first innovative development was to reveal the benefits of those algal extracts which possessed antioxidant properties, pathogenic bacteria inhibition levels and anti-inflammatory and soothing effects for the prevention and even treatment of certain oral pathologies. Research work undertaken led to an algal extract with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties being identified from among the algae selected for the project. Other active ingredients with anti-biofilm and anti-bacterial properties were also identified. The positive results of these tests were the subject of a patent registered by Yslab, the company directing the project.

Throughout the project, the partners worked on securing validation and regulatory compliance for these natural products, a process which continues until they are placed on the market.
The project led to the launch, in the first instance, of two oral and dental hygiene products: toothpaste and mouthwash containing algal extracts and produced by Algues et Mer. The project partners perfected the formulation for these two new algae-based products in terms of their smell, colour and taste. Other products, such as gum gel, could be developed and marketed, depending on the response of retailers to the initial products offered.
Four jobs were created during the course of the project. A publication is forthcoming and a paper is due to be presented at an international conference on infectious diseases in December 2011.
Yslab will now work on the marketing of these new, natural products.