Cost of brushing teeth increasing

The price of a perfect smile is increasing – with dental products rising by eight percent in recent months according to new research.

Price intelligence company Skuuudle have tracked the price of more than 2,000 dental products over the past six months.

They found that retailers are battling to keep the cost of children’s toothbrushes as affordable as possible while adults are having to pay more.

The cost of child toothbrushes has increased by six percent since September while adult brushes and other products went up by eight percent.

Experts from Skuuudle say the increases show that retailers are doing their best to keep the price of essential oral hygiene products as affordable as possible.

They are particularly trying to keep increases to costs to children’s products below inflation levels amid concerns for the oral health of the nation’s youth.

Camilla Kingdom, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, recently described the state of children’s teeth in Britain as a ‘national disgrace’.

She argued that toothbrushes and other oral products were becoming luxury items for many UK families amid the cost of living crisis.

However, a spokesman for Skuuudle said their price tracking data revealed that retailers were doing their utmost to avoid pricing these products out of the reach of families.

He said: “Retailers are having to increase the price of many essential items and toothbrushes and dental products are sadly no exception.

“But when the rate of increase of these products is compared to many other items at similar price points, it seems they are increasing at a lower rate.

“This is particularly true of children’s toothbrushes and other dental products aimed at babies and toddlers. These products have increased by six percent since September while similar products aimed at adults have seen steeper increases.

“While prices of these items are increasing, there have been no significant supply issues and supermarkets are managing to keep their shelves well stocked with these products.

“Clearly dental products should not be viewed as luxury items and any suggestion that they are being priced beyond the reach of families is very concerning.

“But we believe retailers are doing what they can to keep these products as affordable as possible given their own costs will also be increasing.”

Experts from Skuuudle tracked the price of 2,000 children and adult dental products collected from 14 different retailers since 1st September 2022.

Skuuudle generates market-leading pricing data analytics to help retailers understand the markets they are operating in, to continue to provide optimum prices for consumers – in the face of rising inflation.

This allows retailers to compare like-for-like products and accurately track changes in the price of the same items across different retailers.

This level of insight is critical when accurately tracking the price of a large number of dental products with many small variables differentiating one product from another.

A Skuuudle spokesman said that retailers have an unenviable ‘balancing act’ to perform when it comes to pricing, having to consider the needs of the customer, their suppliers and the supply chain.

With retailers making available over 54 products for children and trying to keep prices below inflation, the cost of brushing teeth may be increasing but the supply for these products is strong.