About this episode
We reach for it twice a day — without thinking about the decades of research and engineering that went into that squeezable tube of minty goo. Zachary Crockett extracts the last bit. SOURCES: Stephan Habif , chief technology officer at Colgate-Palmolive. Sergio Leite , global head of Oral Care R&D at Colgate-Palmolive. Peter Miskell , professor of international business history at the University of Reading. EXTRAS: " History of Toothpaste " (Delta Dental of Arkansas, 2019). " Cavity Protection or Cosmetic Perfection? Innovation and Marketing of Toothpaste Brands in the United States and Western Europe, 1955–1985 ," by Peter Miskell ( Business History Review, 2011). RESOURCES: " 9,000-Year-Old Dentistry ," by WIRED Staff (WIRED, 2006). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.