Story behind product: Kangaroo Oral Care owner and inventor Jaime Frand knows firsthand the struggles of getting kids to brush their teeth. As a father of four and a registered nurse, Jaime spends much of his time touting the benefits of good oral hygiene to his children and his patients. His patients are often bed-bound, and struggle with the same lack of interest in maintaining hygiene as the kids, albeit for different reasons.
“As a registered nurse, I take care of specialty patients on life support at home. These are patients who are usually bed-bound and need full body care, including good oral hygiene. These patients often feel that brushing is ‘a waste of time.’ At home, my kids used to tell they’d ‘rather clean their room’ than brush their teeth. I had to come up with something fun for my patients and my children to make brushing feel like less of a chore.” Frand remembers, “I thought, what would kids like to have that will do the job, has fun features and is quick?”
After five engineers and just as many prototypes, Jaime came up with the all-in-one, pre-filled toothpaste inside the toothbrush. To use it, you simply turn the dial until the appropriate amount of sparkly, bubblegum-flavored toothpaste is on the brush. The best part of the pre-filled brush? No messes, and no more wasting product.
The brushes have an LED timer which changes color while kids brush. The timer indicates when they’ve brushed for long enough – the ADA recommended full two minutes. Kangaroo Oral Care toothbrushes also have a tongue scraper and soft, moon-shaped bristles for optimal brushing.
The toothpaste supply lasts approximately 2-3 months, at which point the brush needs to be replaced – again, following ADA recommendations to change your brush regularly. The kids don’t seem to mind. In fact, Frand says, “Best of all, you get to tell Mommy or Daddy that it’s time for a new brush…and kids always love new things.”
While Frand is very proud of all the good brushing habits KOC brushes will instill in their users, his favorite feature is the fun LED light. “You can brush your teeth in the dark for two minutes!” he grins. “We have tooth brushing parties every night. It’s the perfect solution for children…and for my patients.”
The customers that are most interested are parents with children ages 2-12 years old. I am in touch with HSN/QVC who took interest in the product, and will hopefully be selling on their show. The brush is currently being sold on Amazon, started about 6 weeks ago and doing ok, but I need to market the product to get a lot more exposure. I have about 18,000 units that was brought in September 2019 and looking to get it in all retail stores that have toys and toothbrushes for children. Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Pharmacies are some of the best places for my product. I have 3 trademarks, 2 design patents and 1 utility patent pending. If interested, please reach out to me to discuss further.
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