News + Issues

Are you willing to brush with chocolate?

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Walk down the oral hygiene aisle at your local big-box stores and you’ll find endless varieties of toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, and other oral hygiene products. I am highlighting a new toothpaste Crest® released as part of their “Be” campaign, Mint Chocolate Trek. This is one of three new flavors just revealed, the others being Lime Spearmint Zest and Vanilla Mint Spark. You can never go wrong with chocolate, and Mint Chocolate Trek definitely gives your taste buds a unique, savory zing.

The branding on the box features a prominent “Be” with a colorful graphic that stands out from your standard toothpaste logo. The Mint Chocolate Trek features the phrase “Be Adventurous,” and that’s exactly how I felt when I purchased this tube. Squeeze the toothpaste on to a toothbrush and you will find a mint green colored paste with brown specks evenly spotted throughout – similar to what you would find in a mint chocolate ice cream. At first glance, I thought I was going to be brushing with a dessert, rather than toothpaste.

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When you start brushing you can immediately taste the chocolate infused in the toothpaste. It’s subtle yet noticeable. The flavors of mint and chocolate are very evenly represented, which made for a perfect combination of taste bud activation. It was like brushing with mint chocolate ice cream. What you will notice, though, is after a good minute of brushing the mint flavor will take over, reminiscent of your traditional toothpaste. Worried about the aftertaste of sweet chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised that my mouth felt clean and refreshed. It provided the same feeling you get when brushing with regular mint toothpaste. I appreciated starting with the chocolate taste and ending with the mint to confirm I brushed my teeth and not just spent two minutes tricking my senses otherwise. Overall, I enjoyed my adventurous expedition with the Mint Chocolate Trek toothpaste. It was an experience that definitely takes you by surprise from the first brush.

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I employed a group of dental students to brush with the Mint Chocolate Trek toothpaste and the response I received was quite surprising. With a sample size of 52 dental students:

  • 60% of surveyed dental students liked the taste of Mint Chocolate Trek – some responded saying, “It tastes surprisingly good. Not too different from typical mint toothpaste, but different enough,” and “The slight mint flavor did help give a little bit of a ‘clean feeling.’”
  • Only 1/3 of surveyed dental students would not recommend this toothpaste. They responded with “Chocolate isn’t what I want to clean my teeth with” and “Even though the mouth-feel was clean, the chocolate flavor left me running my tongue over my teeth in dental-student-paranoia that I had chocolate all over my face.”
  • When asked if they would switch out their current toothpaste for the new Crest® Be Mint Chocolate Trek toothpaste, almost 85% of dental students said they would stick with their current toothpaste.

Though a majority of taste-testers liked the taste of mint chocolate while brushing, they would not make the adventurous leap to the new toothpaste full time. The general consensus is that brushing with something other than mint-flavored toothpaste leaves the feeling that you haven’t really brushed your teeth. The minty-fresh feeling has been so engrained in our minds as being associated with a clean mouth. Any deviation from the norm makes people skeptical on the efficacy of additional flavors to their toothpaste.

In this poll, almost 7 out of 10 dental students recommend this toothpaste. Are you willing to take the challenge, to “Be Adventurous,” and embark on a decadent cocoa journey two times a day? If you have tried Crest® Be Mint Chocolate Trek toothpaste leave your thoughts and comments below! Happy brushing!

To check out more info about Crest® Be Mint Chocolate Trek or the other Be toothpastes, click here.

Want to win one of the new Crest® “Be” flavored toothpastes? If you could create any toothpaste flavor, what would it be? Tell us in the comments below and you’ll be entered to win a tube of Crest® Be Mint Chocolate Trek, Lime Spearmint Zest or Vanilla Mint Spark! This contest closes on May 15.

~Jay Banez, Marquette ’16, electronic editor

Jay Banez

Jay Banez is one of ASDA's electronic editors. Originally from Las Vegas, Jay is a D4 at Marquette School of Dentistry. Jay is also the Media & Communications Chair for #MarquetteASDA. You can catch him walking around school occasionally with his camera in hand, posting to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. These efforts helped lead Marquette to its Ideal ASDA Chapter title at the 2014 Gold Crown Awards.

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15 Comments

  1. Brenda says:

    Refreshing Pineapple Mint

  2. Patricia says:

    Fresh Cucumber!!! MMM!

  3. Tatyana says:

    Strawberry Bubblegum 🙂

  4. Linda Nguyen says:

    Watermelon !!

  5. Felipe L. says:

    Peanut butter

  6. Paulo oliveira says:

    Tangerin Citrus

  7. Austin Mielke says:

    Coconut

  8. Giordana Tagliareni says:

    Mango mint blast

  9. Reesha says:

    Blueberry blast!

  10. Kedy Shen says:

    Sriracha

  11. Amber Lunsford says:

    Strawberry Shortcake or Strawberry Cheesecake

  12. Quite innovative…brushing with this new flavoured toothpastes would be amazing and what else could be better than this ,if we could be able to keep our dental health good at the same time.

  13. Tanya Sue Maestas says:

    Pina Colada!
    Could be dangerous if people started to ingest large quantities!

  14. I love citrus flavored toothpaste but it is so hard to find.

  15. Franchesca says:

    I personally wouldn’t use a food flavored toothpaste, it might make me hungry and crave more chocolate than what I already eat. I’ll stick with my boring toothpaste.

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