When Angela Wright’s family member had to have four teeth pulled at just age 4, she was horrified. She knew his mother was diligent and made sure his teeth were being brushed and flossed regularly, but like many kids, it just wasn’t enough to prevent irreparable tooth decay.
“Around the same time I was also researching teeth whitening solutions for myself, but as I’m vegio which is a cross between paleo and vegetarian and live a predominantly organic lifestyle, I’m quite conscious of the products I put into my body, so I was looking for natural solutions,” she says.
Through extensive research, Wright, who is based in Noosa, Queensland, discovered the ancient Ayurvedic technique of oil pulling, which not only whitens teeth, but also removes plaque and detoxes the body.
Oil pulling, also known as ‘kavala’ or ‘gundusha’, involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth for 5-25 minutes. This action allows the oil to seep into hard-to-reach dental and gum crevices, and traps up to 8 billion microorganisms. The bad bacteria, fungi and parasites trapped in the oil, are then spat out.
“When I started oil pulling I discovered that it was clumsy – the oils were messy to use, and didn’t taste good so the whole experience wasn’t at all pleasant,” says Wright.
“I was frustrated not to find a safe, effective, easy and good-tasting option. The entrepreneur in me saw an opportunity to take on the global mouthwash market which to date has been dominated by giants which tend to fill their products with chemicals that have been clinically proven to have many adverse health effects but are cheap for them to make. We set out to create an effective, safe, organic product that really works.”
Over the past 12 months, Wright has sourced premium organic coconut oil ingredients from Sri Lanka, developed a revolutionary Vitalock coconut oil extraction method with a biochemist in the US, sourced a manufacturer and business partner in Devon, UK and attended numerous global conferences on natural health to develop two revolutionary new products – Mintycoco and MouthMonsters.
She says whilst both products use the same manufacturing process there are important differences. Mintycoco is easy to use and focusses on whitening teeth and comes in 10ml sachets, while MouthMonsters is designed for kids and gamifies oral health plus is available in smaller 5ml sachets – the perfect amount for smaller mouths.
The company have also incorporated two “ice cream” flavours – mint and strawberry – both of which are all natural and organic and leveraging on the fact that the phytonutrients in mint and strawberries are actually proven to be beneficial for mouth health.
Wright says many parents will sympathise that getting children to brush their teeth, floss, and more importantly, do a good job of it, can be difficult and that it’s even not uncommon for busy working mums and executive business women to lack the time for proper dental hygiene.
“The MouthMonsters product takes all the fuss out of keeping our children’s teeth and gums healthy. You simply squeeze a MouthMonster into the child’s mouth, and ask them to swish it around their teeth and gums for 5-25 mins – and yes you’ll get peace and quiet during this time while they have it in their mouth! Mums tell us this is a huge bonus – we call them Moments of Morning Calm! When they’ve had enough, they simply spit it out. And even better, if they happen to swallow any of it, unlike other mouthwashes on the market, it will do them no harm whatsoever. Our ingredients are nutritionally sound, premium quality organic food grade coconut oil with natural flavours.”
Wright has been selling the Mintycoco brand online including via Amazon since late last year and is proud to already be ranked as the #1 most reviewed oil-pulling product on the market, and receives orders from more than 15 countries around the world.
She is now excited to be officially launching both brands in Australia and hopes in doing so, she can tackle the global oral health crisis in children.
Learn more about Wright’s businesses at http://mintycoco.com and http://mouthmonsters.com.
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