Two big budget launches of oral care products this month in the u.s. could see the rollout of two new brands into the $100 million Canadian toothpaste market later this year.

Procter & Gamble has introduced Crest Gum Care with a US$40 million campaign from D’Arcy Masius Benton Bowles of New York.

At the same time, Warner-Lambert is spending about US$42 million to advertise and promote Listerine toothpaste with a campaign from S.U.N. Health-Core of New York, a division of WPP Group.

Sister companies Procter & Gamble Canada and Warner-Wellcome Consumer Health Products division are not tipping their hands about Canadian launch plans.

Procter & Gamble Canada spokesperson Rob Fitchner says, ‘Our approach is not to speculate on Canadian plans.

At Warner-Wellcome, Ron Schone, category manager oral care, says the Canadian launch will not be this month.

‘We’re constantly looking at new opportunities in oral care, and I can’t really speculate about new products,’ Schone says.

‘Right now, we haven’t set a launch date, so I have no idea when it will be,’ he says.

If the two products are launched in Canada, the Toronto office of dmb&b would handle p&g’s Crest Gum Care, while J. Walter Thompson has the Listerine brand assignment.

Crest Gum Care and Listerine toothpaste join the growing ranks of oral care products targeting the burgeoning aging population.

The days of ‘Look Mom, no cavities’ are gone and toothpaste marketers are instead concentrating on the horrors of the adult world – gingivitis, bad breath and stained teeth.

Gingivitis, a gum disease that causes swelling and bleeding, and if left untreated can result in loss of teeth, was brought to the forefront in Canada with the September 1993 launch of Colgate Total by Colgate-Palmolive.

Total contains triclosan and gantrez in addition to fluoride for cavity protection.

Triclosan reduces bacterial plaque, tartar and gingivitis. Gantrez is an agent that binds the triclosan to the teeth and gums.

p&g responded to Total in January 1994 with Crest Ultra, which contains triclosan only.

In Canada, both Colgate and p&g have also introduced products with baking soda, a natural whitening ingredient.

Colgate was first with Colgate with Baking Soda in July 1992, and last year added Colgate Tartar Fighting Toothpaste with Baking Soda.

p&g released Baking Soda Crest in 1993 and launched Tartar Fighting Baking Soda Crest at the same time as Ultra last year.

Neither Colgate Total nor Crest Ultra are sold in the u.s. because triclosan has not yet been given approval by the Federal Drug Administration for use in toothpaste.

Approval is expected next year.

Instead, Crest Gum Care is entering the gingivitis fight with an ingredient called stabilized stannous fluoride, a stabilized version of the active ingredient in the original cavity-fighting Crest with Fluoristan, introduced in the u.s. in 1955.

p&g says that stabilized stannous fluoride not only protects against cavities but also suppresses the growth of plaque bacteria on teeth and gums.

Warner-Lambert’s brand extensions to its hardy Listerine oral care brand have not been as abundant over the years.

Original Listerine Antiseptic mouthwash was joined by Cool Mint Listerine in 1993.

With the launch of Listerine toothpaste, Warner-Lambert is not making any claims about the product fighting gingivitis.

As with Listerine mouthwash, the key selling point for the toothpaste is it ‘Kills the germs that cause bad breath.’