Silicon Valley Startup Creates $20 Toothpaste

— -- In this age of $30 shampoo, $50 sunscreen, and $200 face cream, would you pay $20 for a small tube of toothpaste?

A Silicon Valley startup hopes you will.

The company, started by Berkeley and Stanford graduates, says it has invested 12 years into research and development of a product called Livionex.

One 1.7 ounce tube of this dental gel retails for $20.

The company’s CEO, Amit Goswamy, said of the thinking behind their product, “Traditional toothpaste was invented in 1873. There hasn’t been a lot innovation in plaque reduction since then.”

The problem, according to Goswamy, is that traditional toothpaste is primarily an abrasive to rub plaque off your teeth; think of those grainy counter cleaners that scour stains off of surfaces.

Livionex, which does not contain fluoride, is described by Goswamy as more like nail polish remover that detaches plaque from the teeth.

“We actually look at it from a chemical perspective because it aids the brushing and removes plaque much better," Goswamy said. "Because the plaque is actually repelled from the teeth, we break the molecular bonds beyond between plaque and your teeth so the plaque basically falls off.”

The company has funded a few small studies, most notably one conducted by the University of California at Irvine on 25 subjects, some of whom used Livionex for three weeks.

Goswamy says the Livionex users showed more than a two-fold reduction in plaque, gingivitis and gum bleeding as compared to those who used a traditional toothpaste.

I’ve been trying Livionex for a few days and the first thing you notice is how a dental gel differs from toothpaste. It doesn’t foam. It is minty and your mouth feels fresh afterwards.

I noticed that my teeth felt smooth and clean afterwards like when I brush with regular toothpaste. But what has impressed me is that for the rest of the day my teeth felt cleaner for longer. They even felt smoother in the morning when I woke up after brushing them eight hours prior.

The American Dental Association commented on the new dental gel in a statement provided to ABC News.

“The American Dental Association welcomes research that can lead to innovations in dental products intended to improve the dental health of the public. The American Dental Association (ADA) is aware of the limited data that has been published about Livionex dental gel." The statement continued, "Livionex may hold promise, but the publicly reported data was drawn from sample sizes of 25 or less people. Initial research results on any sort of product be it oral care, pharmaceutical, etc., may or may not be replicated when further studies are conducted and published in peer-reviewed journals. Product claims regarding effectiveness at preventing disease should be evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the regulatory agency responsible for protecting the public’s health."

When I asked Goswamy about the ADA’s statement, the Livionex CEO says the company and the ADA share a common goal.

“We would like to work with the ADA because both of us have the same goal: better oral health in America," Goswamy said.