This is my personal review of the Ollie toothpaste after having used it and compared it to all of the other toothpastes in my collection. I’ll be giving you my subjective thoughts and also objective facts about this oral care product.
Yes, I am a dentist and for full disclosure, we are an affiliate partner with Ollie but that is because we really like their toothpaste. It is the only one on the market which has what I like to call the trifecta which consists of hydroxyapatite, fluoride, & potassium nitrate.
Without further ado, let’s get this Ollie toothpaste review on the road.
Overview
The Ollie toothpaste flies under the radar and if I do say so myself, most people probably haven’t heard of it. I don’t recall seeing it in any of the major pharmacies either.
I mean, have you seen it?
However, if you do some research into how Ollie came about it all makes sense. The entire Ollie oral care division branched off of Brio Product Group only fairly recently.
Brio is a personal care ecommerce company that was started by Eric Steckling in 2014 when they introduced their sonic toothbrush. If you read their about us page, their focus is on the customer and NOT on running flashy marketing campaigns.
Therefore it’s not surprising if you haven’t really heard of them. Nonetheless, let’s dive into the featured benefits of their toothpaste.
Featured benefits
These are the “goals” of Ollie toothpaste and why it was created:
- Create one of the best cavity-fighting toothpastes known to man.
- Leave out harmful ingredients.
- Adding the right ingredients to whiten your teeth.
- Work perfectly with peroxide whitening treatments to reduce teeth sensitivity.
- Make a light mint flavor perfect for freshening breath without making your mouth burn.
The only point we wish to expand upon from the list above is the toothpaste’s ability to “whiten” your teeth. It does NOT contain peroxide so it won’t chemically bleach your teeth but the hydroxyapatite (HAP) can make your teeth “appear” whiter.
How HAP makes teeth appear whiter:
- Hydroxyapatite is a tooth mineral, literally what your dentition is made of.
- HAP can fill in enamel surface imperfections.
- Since hydroxyapatite is white in appearance… it can make your teeth look whiter.
Unboxing
My first impression of the Ollie toothpaste was that it came in a very standard toothpaste packaging. It was the tube of toothpaste inside a cardboard box and that was how it came when ordered directly from their website.
Contents of the package:
- Toothpaste housed in cardboard box.
- 1x tube of toothpaste w/ seal.
Product specifications:
- Price = $11.95 single purchase or $10.76 via subscription
- Size = 4oz (113g)
- Tube material = vertical standing plastic tube
Although I do have to say that their design is more on the minimalistic end. A lot of other brands have a ton of lettering, coloring, and logos all over it. Their product is just their name in large sized font with easy to read lettering. The coloring is not over the top either.
What I thought was a really nice touch from a product design perspective was that the Ollie toothpaste had a freshness seal. You can see the aluminium seal when you flip open the cap.
At first I was a little confused on how to remove the seal but then I realized that you can actually unscrew the entire cap. Once unscrewed, you can peel the seal off fairly easily.
After that, you just have to screw the cap back on and now the toothpaste is ready to use.
Initial impression
Appearance
The tube for the toothpaste is made of plastic which is similar to most other brands. Although what I really like about it is the fact that the cap doubles up as a toothpaste stand. You can store the entire tube upright and that just gives a cleaner look for your bathroom counter.
You still have the option of laying it flat but the vertical upright position is superior in my opinion. It also helps all of the toothpaste naturally flow to the bottom of the tube for ease of dispensing.
Ease of use
The fact that Ollie’s has a flip cap is a big plus in my book. The flip cap just makes it so much easier to get access to the toothpaste.
You can compare that to other products that use a screw cap. It takes a solid 5-10 seconds to unscrew the cap before you can dispense toothpaste. Then it takes another 5-10 seconds to screw it back on.
A winning point is having a flip cap because it takes half a second to flip open and half a second to close it.
Ingredients
Full list of ingredients in Ollie toothpaste and what their purpose is for.
Active ingredients:
- Sodium fluoride 0.24%
- Potassium nitrate 5.0%
Inactive ingredients:
- Sorbitol, Hydrated silica, Water, Glycerin, Xylitol, Cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Flavor, Menthol, Aloe barbadensis leaf extract, Xanthan gum, Hydroxyapatite, Calcium carbonate, Titanium dioxide, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Stevia rebaudiana extract
Ingredient purposes
Remineralization agents:
- Hydroxyapatite – Used to repair and protect your teeth by preventing, stopping, and reversing cavities.
- Sodium fluoride – Anti-cavity agent that can prevent, stop, and reverse tooth decay.
Desensitizers:
- Hydroxyapatite – Reduces teeth sensitivity by occluding exposed dentinal tubules.
- Potassium nitrate – Reduces sensitivity by depolarizing the tooth nerve.
Whitening abrasives:
- Calcium carbonate – Very mild abrasive for natural whitening.
- Hydrated silica – whitening abrasive
- Glycerin – To prevent toothpaste from drying out but also sweetens it.
- Xanthan Gum – provides body so that it can be squeezed and pumped.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate – helps to improve the “lathering” ability.
- Titanium dioxide – gives toothpaste it’s characteristic white color.
- Cocamidopropyl betaine – foaming agent and thickener
- Cocos nucifera (coconut) oil
- Stevia Rebaudiana Extract – Natural sweetener and sugar substitute.
- Xylitol – Natural sugar alcohol with cavity preventative effects.
- Menthol
- Sorbitol
- Aloe barbadensis leaf extract
My experience
After using the ollie hydroxyapatite toothpaste, my mouth felt fresh and my teeth felt clean. The experience wasn’t too different from the other brands of hydroxyapatite toothpastes.
Strangely enough, it didn’t foam very much despite having SLS in it.
Aside from the mouthfeel the most noticeable difference to me would be the prominent coconut flavor and incredibly mild mint taste.
Immediately after I dispensed the Ollie toothpaste onto my philips sonicare toothbrush, what I noticed was the color of it. It was a very opaque color of white which was pretty standard for most dentifrices.
The coloring predominantly comes from the titanium dioxide and hydroxyapatite.
This toothpaste does not smell overpoweringly minty. As a matter of fact it smells more like coconut than anything else.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of coconut but I am a big fan of mint. I actually wished it was more minty smelling but then again for those who like coconut, this may be it for you.
Ollie’s has a very mild mint taste which almost feels like an afterthought in my opinion. The predominant taste and smell of this paste is coconut since it does have coconut oil in it.
It’s not a bad taste, I’m just not a big coconut guy. I think those of you who like coconut will like this toothpaste. Those of you who don’t like mint will also find this pleasant because you only get a slight mint taste at the very end.
The consistency for the toothpaste is fairly thick. It is much thicker than the other hydroxyapatite toothpastes such as the Boka, Risewell, and Davids.
Despite the thickness the material is actually not that thixotropic. You do get mild slumping if you invert your toothbrush with the paste on it and jiggle it a bit.
The image above shows my favorite upside down toothbrush test with Ollie’s.
Overall, it was a very positive and pleasant experience using this product. There weren’t anything objectively bad to say about it.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Two remineralization agents.
- Two desensitizing agents.
- Has the TRIFECTA.
- Stands up right.
- Flip cap for ease of opening.
- Sealed for freshness.
Cons:
- Pricier than regular fluoride toothpaste.
- Toothpaste isn’t edible.
- Coconut flavor.
- Not a zero waste product.
- Not fluoride-free.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS).
Featured benefits
There are many pros to using the Ollie toothpaste but the two biggest ones would be having two remineralization ingredients and two desensitizing ones as well.
Double remineralization agents
This toothpaste has both sodium fluoride and hydroxyapatite in it. Both are anti-cavity ingredients that prevent, stop, and reverse tooth decay.
- Remineralizes teeth (reverse decay)
- Protects teeth (decrease critical pH)
- Strengthens enamel (fluorapatite)
- Antibacterial
- Remineralizes teeth
- Protects teeth
- Anti-sensitivity
- “Whitens” teeth
Most toothpastes only have one anti-cavity agent in it but this one has two which is a big plus.
Double desensitizing agents
There are two tooth desensitizers in Ollie’s, potassium nitrate and hydroxyapatite. They desensitize the teeth via different mechanisms so it is very beneficial if you suffer from tooth sensitivity. Most sensitivity toothpastes only contain one desensitizer but this one is different.
- Depolarizes tooth nerve by supplying excessive potassium ions (K+).
- Tooth nerve becomes numb and thus feels no sensitivity.
- Occludes exposed dentinal tubules.
- It blocks the pores in the tooth thus preventing stimuli from interacting with the tooth nerve.
The above two mechanisms describe how this sensitive toothpaste works. Of course there are many more desensitizing ingredients out there and they may work slightly differently.
Verdict
Overall, the ollie hydroxyapatite toothpaste is a solid product and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to minimize tooth decay and those suffering from sensitivity.
My adoration for it stems from the fact that it has the TRIFECTA.
- Fluoride
- Hydroxyapatite
- Potassium nitrate
The combination of those ingredients results in a toothpaste that has two remineralization agents and two desensitizing agents. There isn’t another toothpaste on the market which possesses those traits.
You can go scour the internet but you won’t find it. Although if someone does create something new, please do let me know!
Where to purchase:
- Currently only available through their website.
- Price is $11.95 for a single order but you can save 10% if you subscribe to their recurring subscription.
That concludes my Ollie toothpaste review.