So many things to smile about from Brazil!

If you, like us, are missing the Olympic Games already and eagerly awaiting the Paralympic Games, here is a great blog from Ruthie about Brazilians and their smiles! 

Brazilians take cleanliness extremely seriously. Showering twice a day is standard and even the most basic restaurant has an outside sink with soap and paper towels so you can wash your hands before you eat. 

 

 

 

 

What may come as a surprise is what can be found in a cafe "rest room":  

Push the soap dispenser and instead of fragrant foam, some minty liquid will land on your hands. This is mouthwash. Look around the bathroom and spot dental floss too!

"We smile a lot. Every time we ask something, we smile, we apologise smiling, people see their smile as their calling card," says Ronaldo Art, marketing manager for Oral Care at Johnson & Johnson in Brazil.

The company puts its Listerine mouthwash in public toilets for free so they can try the product. One of the latest tactical moves by a global company to take a slice of Brazil's massive oral hygiene market, and it seems to be working. 

Research for the BBC carried out by international brand consultancy Millward Brown reveals that out of the top twenty most powerful foreign brands, three are for toothpaste - Colgate, Oral B, and Close-Up. 

"Historically in Brazil if you had a nice smile, it would show you were a wealthy person," said Eduardo Campanella, brand director for oral care for Unilever in Brazil. 

"Everybody in Brazil will have their toothbrush and their toothpaste in their purse .There is even a joke, if you see someone in the UK brushing their teeth in the toilet, no doubt he's Brazilian," he says.

It is estimated Brazil has the highest number of dentists in the world - more than 240,000. That is equivalent to 15% of the dentists in the entire world. 

Overall, the dental market is number three in the world after the US and China.And a Brazilian household would spend nearly the same amount on oral care as a US household, even though economic productivity, or wealth, in Brazil is a fifth of that in the United States. 

The dental market is healthy and not without its surprises 

Unilever launched a range of stain removers, the company had an idea of how well it would sell. "It was double," says Marcos Angelini, the homecare vice-president at Unilever Brazil.

So check out those beautiful Brazilian smiles . They are gold medal winners !