14 DAY TRIAL // By the looks of it, the healthiest way to eat chocolate from now on will be to use the new chocolate-flavored toothpaste, created by American oral care company Theodent. However, be prepared to shell out some money, as the new toothpaste doesn’t come cheap.
The luxury oral care firm used an extract from the cacao plant, called Rennou, instead of fluoride to create the new product. The substance, which is similar in structure to caffeine, is supposedly safe for kids and it can even be swallowed as it isn’t toxic. So, if you are a sweet-toothed person, but you don’t want to get fat, this chocolate-tasting toothpaste might appease your appetence.
According to Food Beast, the new cacao-derived paste uses theobromine, calcium, and phosphate to create a natural, fluoride-free alternative to the regular tooth care products currently available on the market. Theodent also claims that these compounds not only clean your teeth, but also help to strengthen tooth enamel.
“Theodent toothpaste represents the only major toothpaste innovation in over a century. Theodent harnesses the power of patented Rennou, a non-toxic proprietary blend of a naturally-occurring extract found in chocolate blended with other minerals that help to strengthen the enamel surface of human teeth,” the company says on its website.
Apparently, Theodent created two varieties of the product – a regular-strength version which costs $10 (€7.2), and an extra-strength version with extra high doses of Rennou that will set you back $100 (€72).
For those interested, the dessert-tasting product is available online, through Theodent's website, and at select Whole Foods Markets, but the cheaper version has already sold out online. My guess is that it was a big hit with kids, although the producer claims it is also ideal for those individuals with a sensitive oral cavity.
I did a little digging on this topic and found out that this is not the first time a company comes up with such a product. In 2005, Unilever Philippines produced a limited edition of chocolate flavored fluoride toothpaste called Closeup Flavalicious. However, in that product, the cavity-fighting component was still fluoride.
Although the idea might seem bizarre, a research conducted by Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour showed that Rennou, the extract from cocoa plant, really has a beneficial effect on teeth, as it protects them and is actually more effective than fluoride when it comes to cavity prevention.
However, Theodent highlights they are only using an extract of chocolate which is good for human teeth and they are not encouraging the consumption of sugar and fat-ridden chocolate.