A class action lawsuit against Colgate in the US is currently moving forward - and it feels strikingly familiar.
At its core, the case centres on claims that certain products, particularly those aimed at children, may have been marketed in a misleading way.
And at the heart of it is a simple, but important issue: fluoride.
Fluoride and Children: Where Things Get Nuanced
Fluoride has long been positioned as the gold standard in oral care. And to be clear - it does have a role. In the right amounts, it can support enamel and help prevent decay.
But like many things in health, context matters.
For young children, the equation changes. They are far more likely to swallow toothpaste rather than spit it out, which increases overall exposure. Excess fluoride intake at this stage has been linked to dental fluorosis - visible changes in enamel - and continues to raise broader questions around long-term exposure.
And yet, if you walk down the oral care aisle, that nuance is almost entirely absent.
Children’s products are presented as safe, simple, and reassuring. Bright packaging, familiar branding, a sense of trust.
Which raises a bigger question: how much are we actually being told?
We’ve Seen This Before
It’s hard not to draw parallels with children’s food.
For years, cereals and snacks were marketed as “healthy” - carefully positioned with bright colours, friendly messaging, and claims that felt reassuring to parents.
But behind that? High sugar content, ultra-processing, and a very different nutritional reality.
Eventually, the gap between perception and truth became too large to ignore. Consumers started asking better questions. Labelling came under scrutiny. Regulation followed.
Trust, once lost, proved difficult to rebuild.
Is Oral Care Next?
Oral care has, in many ways, escaped that level of scrutiny.
It sits in a strange space - part healthcare, part personal care - used daily, often multiple times a day, and rarely questioned.
But that’s starting to change.
We’re seeing a shift towards ingredient awareness, microbiome health, and a more holistic understanding of how oral care fits into wider wellbeing. Consumers are becoming more curious, more informed, and less willing to accept things at face value.
And when that happens, categories built on habit can become fragile very quickly.
The Real Issue: Transparency
This isn’t about fear, and it’s not about demonising a single ingredient.
It’s about transparency.
It’s about giving people the full picture - especially when it comes to products designed for children.
Because when information is simplified to the point of omission, trust starts to erode.
And once that process begins, it’s very difficult to reverse.
A Shift in Expectations
The reality is, expectations are changing.
Consumers now expect the same level of scrutiny in oral care that they apply to skincare, nutrition, and wellness more broadly. They want to understand what they’re using, why it works, and whether it aligns with their values.
This shift creates both a challenge and an opportunity.
For legacy brands, it means rethinking long-standing assumptions.
For newer brands, it’s a chance to build differently - with openness, clarity, and long-term trust at the centre.
A Founder’s Perspective
As a founder in this space, it’s something I think about often.
Not just what we make - but how we communicate it.
Because it’s easy to follow category norms. It’s much harder to challenge them.
But if the food industry has taught us anything, it’s this:
The correction always comes.
And when it does, the brands that survive are the ones that don’t need to explain themselves.
They’ve already been clear from the beginning.