Nothing but the tooth

MANILA, Philippines - People today expect the ability to co-create and lead innovation, forcing companies to devise creative solutions to be competitive in this new, bottom age. Such environment creates opportunities for companies who are creative and intimately listen to the cultures with which they are involved to create new ways of expression and creation. Instead of thinking globally and acting locally, the successful philosophy will be to think locally and act globally.

In the vast middle of the market, brands that connect with people’s imaginations, that inspire, provoke, and stimulate, helping them interpret the world that surrounds them, will be successful. Brands that can make the transition to provide honest, original, cultural materials, offering space for co-creation, will win. Many companies have already discovered that being good corporate citizens can be good for their brands. Think about this. A Filipino tooth brush company, TVP Dental B Corporation, has taken the challenge to improve the dental health of the Filipino by providing them with high quality yet affordable tooth brushes and educating them on proper tooth brushing and how to develop good dental care habits. Proper dental care is important as much as it directly affects our overall health and our quality of life.

Owned and founded in 1986 by Tomas Vergara Portillo (TVP), Dental B which stands for Dental Brush is a 100 percent owned Filipino company.  In 2000, the company spearheaded the “Healthy Teeth for Healthy Life” program in partnership with the Rotary Club of Pasig East and the Philippine Association Pasig Pateros Taguig Chapter. The program includes giving away free tooth brushes to public school kids, the showing a video on proper tooth brushing, and actual tooth brushing supervised by dentists.  Proper tooth brushing is simply brushing your upper teeth with downward strokes and your lower teeth with upward strokes to avoid the receding of your gumline that results into sensitive teeth and gum. What’s more, brush your teeth every after meal to avoid bacteria from building up in the mouth. More important is to visit your dentist every six months. 

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the strongest part is our teeth. Without bacteria our teeth can remain intact forever. However, the Department of Health (DOH) cited that 98 percent of Filipinos suffer from tooth decay and furthered that some poor families share only one toothbrush. Research revealed that advance dental caries could transport bacteria from the cavities to the heart, the brain, kidneys and the liver.

Can you therefore imagine not brushing your teeth even for just one night? On the Monday morning after typhoon Ondoy pounded us over the weekend, we dispatched a total of 45,000 tooth brushes to networks ABS-CBN, GMA 7 and to other foundations and NGOs for distribution to the flood victims. With the help and support of friends, we were able to distribute an additional 60,000 tooth brushes for the flood victims of typhoon Pepeng. TVP Dental B has been an active supporter of the Children’s Hour, Bantay Bata 163 and other children’s organizations. We need to support and educate the children on proper dental care so they may grow up to be healthier, smarter and more productive individuals.

Many companies claim that their employees are their most important asset, yet in difficult times they’re the first to go. I am proud to share that in TVP Dental B’s 23-year history, 17 percent of my employees have stayed with the company for over 20 years, 34 percent for over 10 years and 49 percent for over five years. We have considered ourselves a “family” - growing together with the company.

It is gratifying to note that as per survey done by AC Nielsen trade in 1996, TVP Dental B ranked number two in terms of value and number two in terms of volume. TVP Dental B is the first and only tooth brush company in the country to be presented with the Tynex Quality award from the DuPont Company in USA in 1997. In 2003, TVP Dental B received the supply chain excellence award and Best Customer Service award in 2004, both from the Philippine Seven Corp. (7-11). TVP Dental B got another boost when it garnered the Consumer’s Choice for “Most Outstanding Tooth Brush Brand” award also in 2004. The best awards we have received are “fan mails” directly from the consumers commending us on the quality, the features and reasonable prices of our tooth brushes. The letters now hang on our office walls to remind us of our commitment to our corporate mission. I believe we are the better “B” and we better be.