Mentadent is a brand name for a line of dental products manufactured by Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

 everywhere but United States and Canada, where it was acquired by the Church & Dwight Company in 2003.

The brand was introduced around 1982 by Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

, and sold to Church and Dwight in 2003.

Varieties

• Mentadent Replenishing White
• Mentadent Advanced Whitening
• Mentadent Advanced Cleaning with Breath Freshening
• Mentadent Advanced Care

Mentadent is most notable for its unique toothpaste dispenser: a dual chamber pump. This design is intended to keep two ingredients separated until it is dispensed. Upon brushing, the ingredients will react with each other in the mouth. Both the toothpaste (formula) and the design of the pump were originally invented and then patented by Hans Schaeffer - who later sold the patent.

In the majority of their toothpaste lines, the two separate ingredients are baking soda and peroxide

Peroxide

A peroxide is a compound containing an oxygen–oxygen single bond or the peroxide anion .The O−O group is called the peroxide group or peroxo group. In contrast to oxide ions, the oxygen atoms in the peroxide ion have an oxidation state of −1.The simplest stable peroxide is hydrogen peroxide...

. Upon brushing, baking soda and peroxide will combine to release oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 bubbles. It is claimed that these bubbles will clean, whiten, and freshen the mouth.

Currently, they are marketing Mentadent Replenishing White with Liquid Calcium technology. Liquid Calcium refers to the combination of two separate ingredients: calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

 and phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

. Upon brushing, calcium and phosphate will combine to form calcium phosphate

Calcium phosphate

Calcium phosphate is the name given to a family of minerals containing calcium ions together with orthophosphates , metaphosphates or pyrophosphates and occasionally hydrogen or hydroxide ions ....

, one of the main components of tooth enamel

Tooth enamel

Tooth enamel, along with dentin, cementum, and dental pulp is one of the four major tissues that make up the tooth in vertebrates. It is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance in the human body. Tooth enamel is also found in the dermal denticles of sharks...

. It is claimed that the calcium phosphate will fill in tiny stain-collecting crevices on the teeth, resulting in whiter, brighter teeth.