As toothbrushes adapt a crucial design aspect from shaving razors

Leading oral care brands Colgate and P&G have launched manual toothbrushes with replaceable brushes globally, significantly reducing the usage of plastic.

When Indians promoted themselves from miswak and neem sticks to branded plastic toothbrushes, little did they realise that they weren’t as biodegradable as their predecessors. Only the bristle of the new oral hygiene tool got damaged. The fairly sturdy and durable handle of the brush gets wasted for no reason.

Reportedly, over 495 million adult manual toothbrushes purchased in the US in 2020 will likely end up in landfill sites because they cannot be easily recycled. The sales numbers are significantly higher in India’s case.

Oral care brands might be onto to a possible solution to the problem – replaceable brush heads. The solution is reminiscent of the age old shaving razor which only replaces the blade and not the complete unit (blade+handle).

Colgate just launched Colgate Keep in the US markets. The starter kit of the newly launched brush includes a handle and two replaceable brush heads. As Colgate suggests, the redesigned manual toothbrush contains around 80 per cent less plastic.

Colgate Keep is designed with a snap-on replaceable brush head and a reusable aluminum handle. Colgate isn’t alone. Oral-B, the oral care brand from Procter & Gamble introduced Oral-B Clic around a year back. Oral-B’s concept is somewhat similar to Colgate’s. As per P&G’s claims the ‘Clic’ uses 60 per cent less plastic. Oral B also

Colgate Keep will be available two bristle variants (Deep Clean with Floss-Tip bristles and Whitening with spiral polishing bristles), as well as a cheek and tongue cleaner on the back of the brush head to get rid of more bacteria.