| What it sells | Example | Risk |
|---|
| A daily habit and a clinical claim | Pepsodent, Crest | Ingredients and claims that draw regulator scrutiny |
| Straight teeth without the chair | SmileDirectClub | Dental boards, lawsuits and unit economics |
| A practice with personality | Tend | Design costs outrun patient volume |
| A product at home | Quip | Subscription churn |
| A cause | ADA, Give Kids A Smile | Low commercial return by design |
Which campaigns sold straight teeth without the orthodontist?
The campaigns that sold straight teeth without the orthodontist created the direct-to-consumer aligner category and then tested its limits.
1. Invisalign: "Invis Is" (2020 onward)
Align Technology launched "Invis Is" in 2020 as Invisalign's largest consumer campaign, aimed at teens and parents, with the line "Invis is" completed by claims such as "Invis is not your parents' braces." Align reported the campaign as part of its push to reach consumers directly before they visited an orthodontist. Align said it invests more than $250 million annually in consumer brand awareness and demand generation, and its European "Invisalign Smile" campaign aimed to get consumers to ask for Invisalign at dental practices and, per its award entry, grew info kit downloads and provider searches 30%. It is the incumbent's answer to direct-to-consumer aligners, and it works best when it sends patients to the dentist, not around them.
2. SmileDirectClub: at-home aligners (2014 to 2023)
SmileDirectClub launched in 2014 selling clear aligners from an at-home impression kit or a SmileShop scan, at a price it advertised as a fraction of braces. The Nashville company raised $1.35 billion in a 2019 IPO that valued it at $8.9 billion, faced dental-board actions and lawsuits, then filed for Chapter 11 in 2023 with more than $1 billion in liabilities, according to Dental Magazine. It shut down in December 2023, and the American Dental Association said it maintains its opposition to the model, Axios reported. It is the largest cautionary case in dental marketing: heavy marketing could not replace clinical oversight and trust.
3. Byte: aligners plus a vibration device (2018 to 2024)
Byte sold at-home aligners with a "HyperByte" vibration device and heavy social advertising, and was acquired by Dentsply Sirona in January 2021 for about $1.04 billion, per Dentsply Sirona. Dentsply paused Byte aligner sales in 2024 over regulatory concerns. The case shows an acquirer inheriting the category's marketing risk.
4. Candid: pivot to CandidPro (2022)
Candid launched as a direct-to-consumer aligner brand with retail studios, then in 2022 closed consumer sales and relaunched as CandidPro, sold only through dentists. The pivot is the clearest example of a direct-to-consumer dental brand returning to the practice channel.
5. Aspen Dental: Motto clear aligners (2021 onward)
Aspen Dental, one of the largest dental support organizations in the US, launched its own aligner brand, Motto, in 2021, sold through its offices with national TV. Motto let a chain compete with direct-to-consumer brands while keeping the dentist in the room. It is the practice-network version of the aligner play.
6. ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers: national TV (2005 onward)
ClearChoice built a network of implant-only centers and marketed them with national television testimonials from patients who received full-arch implants in one day. The chain was acquired by Aspen Group in 2020. ClearChoice shows a single high-value procedure carrying a national brand.
7. Affordable Dentures & Implants: price-led TV (1975 onward)
Affordable Dentures & Implants has marketed same-day dentures and implants with posted prices on TV and radio for decades, mostly in smaller US markets. The brand is the long-running counterpoint to premium implant marketing. It shows a price promise sustaining a dental chain for nearly fifty years.
Which dental campaigns sold a practice with personality?
The dental campaigns that sold a practice with personality used design or a dentist's own face to stand out.
8. Tend: the dental studio (2019 onward)
Tend opened its first New York "dental studio" in 2019, marketed with warm interiors, streaming on the ceiling and online booking, and expanded to several cities. Tend raised venture funding to grow and later closed some locations. It is the dental version of the One Medical membership-clinic model.
9. Dr. Michael Apa: celebrity cosmetic dentistry
Michael Apa, a cosmetic dentist with practices in New York, Los Angeles and Dubai, built a brand on celebrity patients, press coverage and a product line, Apa Beauty. Apa's marketing is his public client list. It shows a single dentist operating as a luxury brand.
10. Dr. Jon Marashi: Los Angeles cosmetic dentistry
Jon Marashi, a Los Angeles cosmetic dentist, built a practice brand on celebrity patients and a visible social presence, then launched oral-care products. Marashi and Apa are the two most-covered examples of the dentist-as-brand model in the US.
11. Dr. Ben Winters: "The Bentist" (2020 onward)
Orthodontist Ben Winters of Texas grew "The Bentist" account on TikTok with reaction videos to bad dental advice and at-home tooth hacks. His following is in the millions, per his own channel. Winters shows an orthodontist using short video to educate against the direct-to-consumer aligner pitch.
12. Dr. Milad Shadrooh: the Singing Dentist (2016 onward)
Milad Shadrooh, a dentist in Basingstoke, England, rewrote pop songs with dental lyrics and became known as the Singing Dentist, with UK television coverage. His general practice is unchanged. He is the small-practice example that a personality campaign does not require a chain.
Which dental campaigns sold a product at home?
The dental campaigns that sold a product at home reached the patient between appointments, which is where most oral care happens.
13. Quip: subscription electric toothbrush (2015 onward)
Quip launched in 2015 with a slim electric toothbrush and a brush-head subscription, marketed on New York subway cars and through dentist referrals. The plastic-base brush cost $25 and the metal base $40 at launch, TechCrunch reported, and by the time it launched in Target it had sold more than 1 million brushes online, per Crain's New York. Quip is the first direct-to-consumer dental product brand built on a subscription, and it turned a once-a-year purchase into a recurring relationship.
14. Burst Oral Care: hygienist ambassadors (2017 onward)
Burst sold a sonic toothbrush through a paid ambassador program for dental hygienists, who recommend it chairside and earn commission. The program is the dental equivalent of an affiliate network. It shows a product brand recruiting the clinical staff as the campaign.
15. HiSmile: whitening with celebrities (2014 onward)
HiSmile, founded in Australia in 2014, marketed teeth whitening through influencers and later celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Conor McGregor. The brand built a global direct-to-consumer business on paid social. It is the whitening category's largest influencer-led campaign.
16. Moon Oral Care with Kendall Jenner (2019)
Moon launched a whitening pen and oral-care line with Kendall Jenner as a partner in 2019, sold at Ulta Beauty. The campaign moved oral care into beauty retail. It shows a dental product marketed as a cosmetic.
17. SNOW teeth whitening: direct-to-consumer kits
SNOW markets LED whitening kits through paid social advertising. SNOW is the high-spend example of whitening as a direct-to-consumer product.
18. Bite Toothpaste Bits: plastic-free toothpaste (2018 onward)
Bite launched toothpaste tablets in a glass jar in 2018 and marketed them on a plastic-free message through social video. The brand appeared on "Shark Tank" in 2020. It shows a sustainability claim creating a new dental product category.
19. Hello Products: natural oral care (2012 to 2020)
Hello launched in 2012 as a "naturally friendly" oral-care brand with bright packaging aimed at natural-grocery shoppers. Colgate-Palmolive acquired Hello in 2020. The acquisition is the clearest valuation of a challenger oral-care brand built on packaging and positioning.
20. Colgate: "Save Water" Super Bowl ad (2016)
Colgate ran its first Super Bowl ad in 2016, asking viewers to turn off the tap while brushing, with no product claim. The ad sold a habit rather than a tube. It is the largest single media buy in oral care tied to a public-service message.
21. Sensodyne: dentist and patient testimonials
Sensodyne, a Haleon brand, has run testimonial ads with named dentists and patients with sensitive teeth for decades, positioning the toothpaste as a dentist recommendation. When GSK acquired the brand in 2001, about 33% of people suffered from tooth sensitivity but only 5% used Sensodyne, according to the Grey London case study on WARC. The IPA case study describes a 10-year campaign with a long-term profit return of 1.38 for every 1 invested. Results are the agency's and brand's own. The format shows how a product brand borrows the dentist's authority, and how teaching a condition can grow a whole category.
Which dental campaigns sold a cause?
The dental campaigns that sold a cause used free care or a charity ask to build goodwill for the profession.
22. American Dental Association: Give Kids A Smile (2003 onward)
The ADA launched Give Kids A Smile in 2003 as a national day of free dental care for children from low-income families, run by volunteer dentists. The ADA reports millions of children served since launch. It is the largest cause-marketing program in US dentistry.
23. Smile Train: "$250 changes a life" (1999 onward)
Smile Train markets cleft surgery for children with a single-number ask, around $250 per surgery, through direct mail, television and online ads. The number has anchored its fundraising for more than two decades. It shows a cause reduced to one memorable figure.
24. Operation Smile: surgical missions (1982 onward)
Operation Smile markets volunteer cleft surgery missions with patient stories and celebrity supporters. Its campaigns compete with Smile Train for the same donors, which has shaped both organizations' messaging. It is the older of the two cleft charities and the model for mission-based medical fundraising.
Which campaigns built the daily-care habit and the clinical claim?
The campaigns that built the daily-care habit and the clinical claim came first, from the 1920s to the 2000s, and set the rules the newer campaigns above still follow.
25. Pepsodent: the film campaign (1920s)
Pepsodent sold a daily routine, not a toothpaste. The brand was introduced in 1915, and adman Claude Hopkins focused its advertising on removing the yellow film on teeth, according to Wikipedia. Charles Duhigg tells the story in The Power of Habit, as summarized by Hook Agency: the film was a cue people could feel, and the clean feeling after brushing was the reward. By the late 1920s sales had fallen so far that Pepsodent sponsored the radio show Amos 'n' Andy, whose first sponsored episode aired on August 19, 1929. The lesson: a visible, repeatable cue turns a product into a habit.
26. Listerine: the halitosis campaign (1920s)
Listerine created a social fear and sold the cure. Advertisers Gordon Seagrove and Milton Feasley built a campaign around "halitosis" for the Lambert Pharmacal Company, and Listerine's sales rose from $100,000 in 1921 to more than $4 million in 1927, according to George Mason University historian Michael O'Malley. American Heritage reports that the advertising budget grew from $100,000 in 1922 to $5 million in 1928. The lesson: naming a problem gives consumers a reason to act, though fear-based claims invite scrutiny today.
27. ADA: National Children's Dental Health Month (1941)
The American Dental Association built a public habit-forming campaign over decades. It began as a one-day event in Cleveland on February 3, 1941, became a national Children's Dental Health Day on February 8, 1949, a week-long event in 1955 and a month-long observance in 1981, the ADA says. Dentists use it each February for school visits, poster contests and free materials. The lesson: a recurring calendar moment lets every dental practice join one national message.
28. Crest: "Look Ma, No Cavities" and the ADA Seal (1958 to 1960)
Crest turned fluoride and a professional endorsement into market leadership. Procter and Gamble launched the fluoride toothpaste in 1956 with Norman Rockwell illustrations, and the Benton and Bowles TV spot "Look, Ma! No cavities!" began airing in 1958, according to WARC. Crest held only about 10% share until 1960, when it became the first toothpaste endorsed by the American Dental Association. Crest says its sales nearly tripled within two years and it was the best-selling toothpaste by 1962. Colgate did not win its own ADA endorsement until 1969, JSTOR Daily notes. The lesson: a third-party endorsement can unlock a campaign that advertising alone could not.
29. Colgate Total: the first gingivitis claim (1997)
Colgate Total won the first FDA approval for a toothpaste claiming to help prevent gingivitis. The FDA approved it on July 14, 1997, CNN reported. Colgate launched it in December 1997 with a $100 million advertising and promotion budget and the brand was the top U.S. toothpaste by dollar sales by July 1998, per The Rose Sheet. Its active ingredient, triclosan, later drew scrutiny, and Colgate said the 1997 review was more rigorous than later FDA reviews, the Boston Globe reported. The lesson: a regulator-backed claim is a powerful asset, but the ingredient behind it carries reputation risk for years.
30. Crest Whitestrips: the at-home whitening category (2001)
Crest Whitestrips created the at-home whitening category. P&G sold the product through a promotional website and dentists before the national retail launch in May 2001, and one year after launch sales had passed $200 million, as strategy+business reported. Within five years P&G held 70% of the home whitening market, per the same article. In the first four months Whitestrips generated $34.5 million, Supermarket News reported, even at a price near $40 that led retailers to lock the boxes away. The lesson: staging a launch through professionals and early adopters builds momentum before a mass rollout.
31. Colgate: Bright Smiles, Bright Futures (1991)
Colgate has run one of the longest-lived dental education programs. It launched in 1991 as a pilot with two mobile dental vans in the Philadelphia and Oakland areas, in partnership with the National Dental Association, Ebony reported. Colgate says the program has reached more than a billion children in over 80 countries, with a U.S. classroom curriculum that reaches nearly 4 million children and mobile vans that have reached more than 10 million. PR News inducted it into its 2016 CSR Hall of Fame. The lesson: a decades-long education program builds authority that a single campaign cannot.
32. Aspen Dental: Healthy Mouth Movement (2014)
Aspen Dental turned free care for veterans into an annual brand event. In its first nine months, volunteers from 211 practices in 27 states gave more than $1 million in free care to 2,901 patients, with NASCAR driver Danica Patrick as spokesperson, according to Ragan's award entry. The 2016 Day of Service treated 4,159 veterans with $2.1 million in free care. By the eighth annual Day of Service, Aspen said the program had provided more than $26 million in free care to nearly 35,000 people. All figures are Aspen's own. The lesson: a yearly day of service gives a practice network a recurring story and a team-wide morale boost.
What should a dental practice take from these 32 campaigns?
A dental practice should take one lesson from these 32 campaigns: the brands that lasted kept the dentist in the room or sold a product the dentist could recommend. The strongest attach a clear benefit to a daily action and then prove it. Pepsodent gave a visible cue, Crest and Colgate Total gave a clinical claim with an endorsement, Sensodyne taught a condition, and Colgate and Aspen gave care away for decades. SmileDirectClub, Byte and Candid each marketed around the practice and each retreated or closed. Quip, Burst and Hello sold through the practice and were either acquired or still growing.
A dental marketing team should lead with the claim a dentist would stand behind and then choose the channel.
