The oral care market is growing steadily, with key opportunities emerging in skincare-inspired products, advanced whitening and enhanced sensory experiences.
Lucy Yang, Senior Analyst, BPC Client Advisory, China Insights
Market Definitions
This Report covers products in the following categories:
- Toothpaste – including paste, gel, scrub and powder formats; covering sensitive relief, herbal, whitening and 2-in-1 toothpastes
- Toothbrushes – including manual and electric toothbrushes
- Mouthwash – including medicated and non-medicated mouthwashes and rinses
- Dental ancillaries – including water/electric flossers, breath sprays, teeth strips, dental floss/tape, interdental brushes and denture products (ie cleaners, fixatives and orthodontic appliance cleaners)
This Report covers adults and babies/children.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Market size and forecast of the oral care market
- Market factors
- Current landscape and opportunities in the oral care market
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THE MARKET
- Market size and forecast
- The oral care market delivers steady growth
- Graph 1: best- and worst-case forecast of oral care market retail value sales, 2020-30
- Market segments
- The oral care market enters a phase of optimisation within a mature market, with performance diverging across segments
- Graph 2: value sales in oral care segments, 2021-25
- Graph 3: value sales growth in oral care market segments, 2021-25
- Market factors
- Toothpaste usage remains stable; electric toothbrushes, dental floss and electric flossers gain traction; ancillaries lose momentum
- Graph 4: usage of oral care products, 2024-26
- The proportion of heavy users declines, while moderate users become the mainstream
- Graph 5: number of types of oral care products used, 2024-26
- Nearly 60% of consumers are affected by teeth discolouration, driving expansion of the whitening and stain‑removal segment
- Graph 6: proportion of consumers troubled by teeth whitening issues, 2018-26
- Graph 7: value sales share of toothpaste by efficacy on Tmall, 2023-25
- Consumers extend skincare efficacy narrative preferences to oral care
- Consumers view oral care as a self-care ritual, driving rising expectations around sensory experience
- Ongoing regulatory tightening steers oral care towards more professional, efficacy‑led development
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COMPANIES AND BRANDS
- Market share
- Tmall: domestic brands dominate as international brands face pressure, with efficacy and scenario‑led innovation as key growth drivers
- Douyin: emerging domestic brands lead, creating a differentiated market landscape from Tmall
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THE CONSUMER
- Skinification of oral care: multiple segments can adopt skincare ingredients and benefits, with innovation drawing on leading ingredients from overseas markets
- Consumers extend skincare efficacy narrative preferences to oral care
- Skincare concepts diverge in social media discussions; whitening leads while anti-ageing and microbiome show potential
- Summary of skinification opportunities across oral care segments
- Skinification opportunities in periodontal care: promoting gum collagen regeneration and gum cell metabolism
- Skinification opportunities in tooth care: an efficacy narrative built around ingredient, mechanism, concentration and evidence
- Skinification opportunities in oral mucosa and environment care: oral moisturising and barrier repair
- Skinification opportunities in teeth whitening: segmentation of skintone management concept and whitening ingredient application
- Low application rates of popular skincare ingredients in oral care highlight opportunities to learn from leading overseas approaches
- Graph 8: attitudes towards ingredients in oral care products – necessary, 2026
- New product examples in South Korea featuring vitamin C, Centella asiatica and peptides
- New product examples in Japan featuring collagen
- Teeth whitening: clear demand for at-home solutions, with sophisticated whitening concepts and segmented categories driving growth
- Nearly 60% of consumers are troubled by teeth whitening issues
- Graph 9: proportion of consumers troubled by teeth whitening issues, 2018-26
- At-home whitening products are the mainstream solution, with consumers embracing multi-product routines
- Graph 10: attitudes towards teeth whitening products and services among consumers with teeth whitening needs, 2026
- At-home teeth whitening technologies can be grouped into four core pathways
- Summary of key teeth whitening concepts, mechanisms and opportunities
- Colour-correction whitening segment leads, bionic repair shows promising potential, botanical and herbal whitening needs a breakthrough in efficacy perception
- Differentiation in colour-correction whitening: from single optical whitening to multi-pathway whitening combinations
- Differentiation in bionic whitening: ingredient upgrades and pathway integration
- Sales divergence highlights gaps in consumer understanding of whitening mechanisms: translate technical pathways into intuitive and perceptible narratives
- Graph 11: teeth whitening concepts of interest among consumers with teeth whitening needs, 2026
- Examples of pain point–solution storytelling and visualised efficacy expression
- High-efficacy teeth whitening agents and strips show relatively stable performance with premiumisation potential
- Graph 12: ecommerce sales performance of whitening oral care subcategories, 2025
- Whitening strip innovations: dissolvable formats with repair, anti-cavity and gum health benefits
- Sensory experience: oral care shifts from functional solutions to emotional fulfilment, with flavour and texture innovation playing a key role
- Consumers view oral care as a self-care ritual, driving rising expectations around sensory experience
- Oral care value upgrade path: from functional solutions to emotional fulfilment
- Flavour preferences: floral and fruity notes lead as consumer tastes diversify
- Graph 13: oral care product flavour preferences, 2026
- Flavour combination preferences: floral–fruity flavour pairing leads, while floral, citrus and green notes show the strongest pairing versatility
- Graph 14: preferences for flavour combinations in oral care products, 2026
- The rising presence of fruity and light floral flavours in new toothpaste launches aligns with the growing demand for diversity in toothpaste
- Graph 15: main flavours in new toothpaste launches, 2023-25
- Global examples of innovative flavours in toothpaste
- New mouthwash flavours emphasise cooling and freshness, with fast growth in tea and light fruity profiles
- Graph 16: main flavours in new mouthwash launches, 2023-25
- Global examples of innovative flavours in mouthwash
- Texture innovation: growth pressure on mouthwash is driving sensory upgrades to unlock new opportunities
- Graph 17: ecommerce sales performance of emerging textures in the mouthwash category, 2025
- Examples of innovative textures in mouthwash
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NEW PRODUCT TRENDS
- Compared with overseas markets, oral care innovation in the Chinese market remains focused on foundational toothpaste and toothbrush categories
- Graph 18: share of new launches in oral care sub-categories, 2025
- Toothpaste remains the main arena for innovation in China, with rising innovation activity in toothbrushes and ancillaries
- Graph 19: share of new launches in oral care, by sub-categories, 2021-25
- In the Chinese market, toothpaste innovation trends towards more targeted efficacy and stronger scientific grounding of ingredients
- Graph 20: main claims in new toothpaste launches, 2021-25
- In the Chinese market, innovation in mouthwash is focused on long‑lasting efficacy and ease of use
- Graph 21: main claims in new mouthwash launches, 2021-25
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APPENDIX – MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ABBREVIATIONS
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
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