India Toothpaste Market Research: Size, Trends & Therapeutic Segment Growth

Dissecting India’s ~ INR 12,500 Cr Toothpaste segment: Size, trends and new categories

The total oral healthcare market in India is sized at around INR 21,000 crores (USD 2,2- 2.3 billion), growing at a steady pace of ~ CAGR 5-6%. India’s oral healthcare industry is growing fueled by rise in disposable income, health awareness and transformation in digital ecosystem. Other factors such as penetration in rural markets in the form of sachets & smaller packs, premiumization of the segment in the face of emergence of therapeutic oral care brands and small yet forward looking D2C segment are further dovetailing the industry in positive direction. 

Out of the Inr 21,000 crores, tooth paste is the largest segment commanding an aggregate size of Inr 12,500 crores, (~ 59.5% of the market share). Other prominent category includes oral care (Inr 3,000 crore segment). Other categories are tooth brush (Inr 3600 cr) and gels (Inr 1100 crores). The residual market is led by categories such as tooth powder & herbal sticks (~ INR 800 crores). Tooth powder is a declining market, yet holds prominence in smaller towns and rural India. 

Colgate + Four other Prominent Brands

In India’s ~ INR 12,500 crore tooth paste market, Colgate holds the prominence with around 40% market share. However, there are also other prominent brands, which are showcasing strong growth. Close-up (owned by HUL) is the distant second with around 19% of the market share. This is closely matched by other herbal care brands such as Dabur (17%) and Patanjali Dant Kanti (11%). 

The fifth largest brand in India’s tooth paste industry is Sensodyne, which holds around 8% of the market share. Sensodyne introduced in 2011, successfully positioned itself as a dentist-recommended therapeutic brand, in a time when the industry was largely skewed towards mass market sentiments. 

The remaining 5% of the market is led by Vicco, Thermoseal alongside a host of pharma led brands such as Vartej (Dr. Reddy), Clove Oral Care, Perfora, etc. 

Rise of Therapeutic Toothpaste as a new Category 

Similar to the rise of ingredient-rich, medical-grade skincare cosmetics brands, India’s toothpaste industry is also mirroring the same. While mass market brands focusing on overall aesthetics and wellbeing continues to stay strong, there is also visible appetite for functional toothpaste focusing on key areas of oral care such as whitening, gum care and sensitivity protection. 

The trend of using proven ingredient to derive therapeutic values from toothpaste is visible in India’s growing tooth paste industry. The therapeutic toothpaste market in India is valued at around Inr ~ 1,950 crores, translating into 15.6% of the overall market size. 

The biggest player in the therapeutic toothpaste segment is Sensodyne, which commands over 51% of the market size. Launched in 2011, Sensodyne is one of the first major brands to position itself as a dentist recommend tooth pastes in the country. Instead of hiring celebrities, it featured real dentists in its advertisements. 

Its GTM strategy revolved around activating a ground force that constantly met dentists in India to educate them about their clinically proven ingredients. Before modern retail, Sensodyne aggressively penetrated pharma outlets. Likewise, it conducts hundreds of dental camps to spread oral health awareness. 

Other major players in the space are numerous variants by Colgate that are dentist recommended alongside Thermoseal, which holds 7.7% of the therapeutic market. Thermoseal, which is part of ICPA health private limited, is one of the first dentist recommended tooth paste brands in India, launched in 1974. 

While brands like Sensodyne successfully entered the consumer retail after initial launched as a dentist recommended brand, Thermoseal continues to be a medical-grade treatment product. It is mostly distributed through dental clinics and pharmacy outlets with limited online presence such as Apollo 247 and Amazon. 

There is also a visible rise in D2C brands in the segment such as Perfora, which has quickly become Inr 40 cr+ brands in a short span of time and are expected to give stiff competition in the times to come. 

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