The development of Tooth Mousse Plus followed the success of Tooth Mousse, which had been developed by scientists in the Dental School at The University of Melbourne and at GC Corporation Japan.

With active ingredient Recaldent™, Tooth Mousse had already demonstrated its effectiveness at remineralising decay-damaged teeth. Scientists in the recently established CRC-OHS were keen to investigate how the calcium phosphate nanocomplex CPP-ACP (licensed as Recaldent™) would work when combined with fluoride.

Fluoride has long been recognized for its effectiveness at preventing tooth decay, and has been added to water, toothpastes and other oral health products. However, as a topical treatment, the potential oral health benefits of fluoride have been limited by the difficulties of delivering it in a way that it can be absorbed into the tooth, rather than remaining on the tooth’s surface. If the next generation of oral care products were to extend the benefits of fluoride, it was necessary to find a way of better controlling fluoride delivery.

Chemical modelling and initial experiments by CRC-OHS researchers produced promising indications that if fluoride and the CPP-ACP complex were combined in specific ratios, the health benefits of each ingredient could be retained. An in vitro study which exposed decayed human teeth to the peptide complex plus fluoride. found that fluoride delivered in the complex penetrated deeper into the tooth than it did when it was applied on its own. In addition, the study found that the remineralising power of the CPP-ACP complex was accelerated by the addition of fluoride.

Once ratios and mixing processes were scientifically established, work transferred to Tokyo, to a laboratory in the buildings of CRC-OHS member GC Corporation, where product development commenced. GC Corporation scientists worked with the team at The University of Melbourne throughout the development phase to understand the chemical structure and behaviour of the new fluoride nanotechnology as they developed a topical crème formulation.

Within just over 12 months, commercial scale production processes and facilities had been established. The new product, Tooth Mousse Plus, was launched onto the marked in October 2006.

Read about the science of Tooth Mousse Plus.