Notes on application
The toothpaste was used in the same way as today’s pastes. The company advertised on its posters that they would brush their teeth at least in the morning and evening. This idea has not changed yet. Unlike tooth powder, which used to be spread on the teeth with the fingers, Ottmar Heinsius from Mayenburg explained how to clean the teeth with toothpaste and toothbrush. Since the toothpaste also contained substances that could possibly be harmful to the body, the toothpaste should not be swallowed but spat out.
What is there to know?
How it was promised in earlier advertisements that the teeth would become whiter from the toothpaste, can unfortunately not be scientifically proven. There is no freely available toothpaste that is aggressive enough to bleach the enamel. Although the teeth appear brighter immediately after brushing with certain pastes, this is because you can see the difference between the colour of the toothpaste and the white teeth you have cleaned.
Unfortunately, it is the case that the enamel is rubbed off by the abrasive particles. As a result, the white enamel layer becomes thinner and thinner and the slightly darker, yellow dentine becomes more visible. The preparation calcium chlorate is no longer used today.
Chlorine is not used for disinfection, but chlorhexidine or triclosan. Today it is known that the enamel needs fluoride and phosphorus in addition to calcium to remineralize. Calcium is therefore present in the form of calcium carbonate or calcium fluoride.
Since toothpaste is not swallowed but spat out again, hardly any of the controversial substances such as triclosan or fluorine enter the body’s circulation. Instead, they are only applied locally. Today’s fluorine-containing toothpaste therefore has advantages over chlorodont.
Where can Chlorodont® be purchased?
Chlorodont® was one of the best selling products in Germany until the 1980s. As there are a large number of toothpastes on the market today that also contain flavorings and other health products, Chlorodont® was ousted from the market. After the reunification of Germany in 1990, the inventors of Chlorodont®, Leonwerke, were bought out.
Chlorodont® was not produced again. Today you can only buy Chlorodont® advertising signs or collectors’ items. The real toothpaste Chlorodont® probably no longer exists.
Although it was stored in metal tubes, it will no longer be usable today. Today, however, toothpastes are still produced by the same company and can still be bought on the market. For example Perlodont®, el-ce med®, and a herbal toothpaste elkadent®.
Around 1900, the majority of people believed that the tooth worm was responsible for tooth decay and that cleaning teeth with mouthwash was enough to combat it. Although some scientists had already researched that this worm did not exist and that bacteria were responsible for bad teeth and the resulting tooth loss. The pharmacist Dr. Ottomar Heinsius v. Mayenbrug was also of this opinion and did research in the field, as he was convinced, among other things, that adequate oral hygiene can only be achieved with mechanical cleaning.
The foundation stone for Chlorodont® was laid. Ottomar Heinsius v. Mayenbrug experimented for some time in the attic of the Pharmacy in Dresden and completed the first toothpaste in 1907. The initial scepticism of many scholars could not stop the triumphant advance of Chlorodont®, so more and more people relied on this product when cleaning their teeth.
It was produced by machine and sold in metal tubes. It became so successful that in 1917 the Leo-Werke was established in the Neustadt district of Dresden to meet the high demand. Through targeted and extremely creative advertising campaigns, Leo-Werke became the largest European toothpaste manufacturer with a wide range of oral hygiene products.
A tube of Chlorodont® cost between 60 Pfennig and 1 Mark. At the beginning of 1945 and in the course of the Second World War, the Leo-Werke were severely damaged by bombing, so that production could only be resumed towards the end of the year. Since then, production has only been for the needs of the GDR and the Soviet Union.
Seven years later the company was nationalized and given a new name: VEB Elbe-Chemie. Until the end of 1989, dental care products for the GDR were manufactured under this name, until the name was changed again in 1990. The company was incorporated into Dental Kosmetik.
KG Dresden and started production in new, modernised production facilities. Two years later the company was reprivatised with ARGENTA as the owner. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, however, Chlorodont® has no longer been produced as a toothpaste, as the current owners lack, among other things, the rights to the name.
To this day, however, it has remained unforgotten, as evidenced by an exhibition in the German Hygiene Museum to mark its 100th anniversary. Today, the company’s well-known brands are Perlodont® and Putzi®.
