New brush cleans 5 times more bacteria than regular brushing alone

Dubai, 09 December 2004: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the market leaders in oral hygiene, has launched the Aquafresh Flex Tooth & Tongue Brush in UAE.

This is the first consumer product in the Middle East to place as much importance on the cleanliness of the whole mouth to increase fresh breath.

Dentists maintain that cleaning teeth is not enough to keep breath fresh; cleaning the tongue for 30 seconds a day removes five times as much bacteria as four minutes of toothbrushing.

Aquafresh is now launching the dual-purpose brush in Arabia to offer a more complete dental hygiene solution. The brush combines X-Active plaque cleaning bristles on the front of the toothbrush head with innovative, rubber, tongue cleaning grooves on the reverse which help clean the tongue's surface.

Sameer Desai, GSK's Group Brand Manager for Oral Care and Nutritionals, explained that cleaning tongues should become part of everyone's daily routine.

He said: "This product has been designed to be simple to use to encourage people to clean their tongue. The Tooth & Tongue effectively removes bacteria from the tongue surface and consumers will notice fresher breath immediately".

A recent survey conducted by Aquafresh in the UAE shows that more than 1 in 4 people do not clean their tongue.

Desai added: "Cleaning the tongue can enhance taste sensations and make the mouth feel fresher.  Some consumers clean their tongue by using toothbrush bristles but these are not designed to clean your tongue.  A more effective way is by scraping the tongue surface.

"The Aquafresh Tooth & Tongue brush is aimed at people who take dental hygiene seriously but know they can look after themselves better."

The good news, according to Aquafresh, is consumers are being increasingly motivated to use oral care products because they make a difference to how they look and feel.

The Tooth & Tongue brush will supplement the already wide range of brushes currently available from Aquafresh for both children and adults. The previous launch from Aquafresh -- the first ever teeth Whitening Brush in the Middle East -- has proven to be extremely popular amongst the UAE consumers.

-Ends-

Editor's notes:
With nearly $5 billion in sales, over ten $100 million brands and present in 130 markets, the consumer healthcare business brings an added dynamic dimension to GlaxoSmithKline.

Operating in the fiercely competitive environment of retail and consumer marketing GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare brings oral healthcare, over-the-counter medicines and nutritional healthcare products to millions of people.

Brand names such as Panadol the analgesic, Aquafresh oral hygiene products, Lucozade the nutritional and Nicorette/ Niquitin smoking cessation products are household names around the world. In one year GSK Consumer Healthcare produces - among many others - nine billion tablets to relieve stomach upsets, six billion tablets for pain relief tablets and 600 million tubes of toothpaste.

But the driving force behind GlaxoSmithKline's consumer healthcare business is science. With four dedicated consumer healthcare R&D centres and consumer healthcare regulatory affairs, the business takes scientific innovation as seriously as marketing excellence and offers leading-edge capability in both.  

For further information:
Kirstie Hepburn / Fiona Swaffield
Strategic Solutions for Aquafresh in Arabia
Tel +971 4 3915390
Email media@strategicsolutionsonline.com
www.gsk.com
www.aquafresh.com

© Press Release 2004