Unusual P&G Dentifrice
Cleans Teeth
"Teel Protects Teeth….. Beautifully!"
--- Ken Carpenter
Lincoln, Me. (DG)—
 Of
all the products Procter & Gamble created, Teel
was the most unusual product of its kind. Teel was specially
made to clean teeth, but it wasn't a toothpaste or tooth powder like other
major brands of teeth cleaning products were at the time. Teel
was a dentifrice that was made in liquid form.
If you're not familiar with Teel, the sound of a liquid dentifrice
might sound unbelievable and a little weird. To be honest, it sounded odd
to me when I first heard about it. At the time, I could picture someone pouring
Teel onto a toothbrush--- only to have its liquid content dribble
all the way to the bathroom floor. This may not necessarily be a bad idea
if bathroom floors had teeth, but I have never encountered a bathroom floor
with white, shiny teeth in my years of existence on this earth. To put your mind at ease,
Teel's liquid content was thickened just enough, so when it
was poured from the bottle to the tooth brush, it had a tendency to stay on
the tooth brush, just aching to clean the teeth inside the human yap.
Teel was the sponsor of the serial MIDSTREAM when
the program took to the air on Monday, May 1, 1939 over the stations of
NBC's Red Network. At that time, announcer Gene Baker described how whiter
teeth could be a reality when the owners of those teeth used Teel.
There was a simple reason for whiter teeth as Baker explained in the
Teel commercials--- there was "Beauty In Every Drop."
 It was important to have white, shiny teeth, but in later years, Teel
was presented in radio and print advertising in a different way.
On a
1946 broadcast of NBC's LIFE OF RILEY, announcer Ken Carpenter
mentioned some sobering facts about the shenanigans that went on inside the
typical human mouth--- and it didn't exactly make for pleasant listening,
either!
Carpenter mentioned the gums inside the mouth had a reputation of receding. When this ghastly thing happened, cavities would begin its dirty work at those
vulnerable areas of the teeth that were exposed after the gums receded. Brushing
with toothpaste and tooth powder actually made those particular cavities
worse in this sensitive area. Unfortunately, many tooth paste and tooth powder
brands of that era had an abrasive content that had the potential of doing
more harm than good. Fortunately, Teel didn't have abrasives
of any kind in its liquid content. Instead of making cavities worse,
Teel protected the teeth from any and all unpleasant stuff.
In order to put off that order for false teeth, Carpenter mentioned how easy
"The New Teel Way" was to protect teeth. First, brush the teeth
twice a day with Teel, and once a week, pour some baking soda
on the brush moistened with Teel and brush thoroughly. For an
extra minute per week, the tag-team combination of Teel and
baking soda provided a white, clean, and healthy smile for everyone who took
this advice.
 Teel
would brighten smiles and protect teeth for about a decade. It was the first
Procter & Gamble dentifrice that made a definite stand against
cavities. When new products were created in the never ending fight against
tooth decay, the torch was passed from Teel to Gleem,
the toothpaste that kept bad breath and decay causing stuff in check for the
whole day, and to Crest, the first successful fluoride toothpaste.
In summing up, Teel was definitely a product that was ahead
of its time. It would fit in quite well with the modern toothpaste, gels,
and other new forms of dentifrice we can buy today. More than likely,
Teel's liquid content would be intriguing with the many people
of today's society who have the idea in their heads that they want to keep
their teeth in their mouths for a lifetime.
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