IADR 2026: Highlighting in vitro testing for oral care and dental products

Our experts will be attending the IADR 2026 General Session in San Diego (March 23-28, 2026). Join our team at Booth 405 throughout the conference and learn how in vitro test methods can drive insight and help steer product development for your latest innovations across hot-topic claim areas like teeth whitening, dental sensitivity, enamel repair, plaque control and more. 

Book a meeting now with our team to discuss how Intertek's advanced in vitro models, including enamel and dentine substrate testing, brush/device testing and saliva-based biofilm studies, can support early-stage formulation development, performance evaluation, and ingredient screening. These capabilities position Intertek as a valuable partner in driving evidence-based product claims and supporting clinical study success.

Questions? Schedule a meeting now.

IADR Hot Topics

Read on for selected hot topics and current insights, shared by our expert Gavin Thomas, Laboratory Director, Intertek CRS. 

Integrated Oral Care Portfolios: As oral care companies expand their product ranges, from toothpastes and mouthwashes to interproximal devices, there is a growing focus on encouraging consumers to adopt more complete daily oral care routines to support better oral health. To demonstrate effectiveness, we use in vitro evaluation of the combined cleaning, whitening, and anti-plaque benefits of multiple product combinations. Using standardised models, we enable rapid, robust testing that supports early innovation, product selection, and marketing claims, while helping brands showcase the value of a broader oral care portfolio.

Anti-Stain and Stain Prevention: As consumers increasingly seek whiter smiles, oral care companies are developing products that remove and prevent extrinsic tooth staining caused by food, drinks, and tobacco. Our scientists use in vitro models to evaluate stain removal and prevention performance. Human or bovine enamel samples are artificially stained to replicate real-world conditions and then treated with oral care products under controlled testing. Colour changes are measured using instrumental techniques to quantify performance. These studies provide rapid, reliable data to compare formulations, support innovation, and substantiate regulatory and marketing claims.

Dentine Occlusion: With dentine hypersensitivity affecting many consumers, oral care innovators are developing products designed to physically block dentinal tubules with the aim of reducing sensitivity. Our scientists use advanced in vitro models to evaluate dentine occlusion performance. Acellular dentine samples are prepared and treated with oral care formulations under controlled conditions. Scanning electron microscopy is used to visualise tubule blockage, while hydraulic conductance studies measure changes in dentine permeability. These methods provide rapid, reliable data to compare formulations, support innovation, and substantiate regulatory and marketing claims.

Gavin Thomas

Laboratory Director, Intertek CRS

Meet our Expert
Gavin has over 20 years of experience working within the in vitro oral care sector. He is currently the Laboratory Manager at Intertek Clinical Research Services and leads Intertek’s team of scientists delivering a variety of in vitro methodologies for product evaluation and claim support.

Why partner with Intertek CRS to accelerate your oral care product innovation? 

Whether you are a supplier of raw materials or an oral care product innovator, in vitro oral care product testing can be an effective approach to steer early-stage formulation development, ingredient screening and selection or formulation development and performance evaluation. Intertek CRS can offer a range of in vitro models to evaluate the safety and performance of oral care products or ingredients. We can also supply a range of hard tissue samples for internal R&D programmes and analytical or bioanalytical support for oral care clinical studies.
Supported claim areas: whitening, stain prevention, anti-plaque, abrasivity, gloss, dentinal sensitivity.
Proven in vitro methods: from artificial lesion models to RDA/REA abrasivity profiling and more
Bespoke testing: tailored protocols for brushing performance, enamel microhardness, bioanalytical assessments using SEM, ICP-OES, microhardness, and more.
Experience you can trust: with over 20 years of experience designing and conducting in vitro oral care studies, we have been a trusted partner for developers and manufacturers of dental care products and oral care products.

Product Types: Our in vitro tests evaluate the following types of oral care products, toothpaste formulations, raw ingredients, mouthwash formulations, tooth gel formulations, tooth tablet or toothpowder formulations, toothbrushes, dentifrice products, interproximal cleaning devices, flosses and electronic devices such as electric toothbrushes.

Our services are targeted at the following claim areas:

Teeth Whitening: We use acellular human or bovine enamel as test substrates to evaluate the whitening efficacy of oral product formulations or ingredients. Our portfolio of tests include: pellicle cleaning ratio (PCR)  x| tooth shades whiter | stain prevention | chemical stain removal | denture stain removal | mouthwash stain removal | propensity to stain | impact upon enamel gloss | ability to restore natural tooth brightness.

Dental Tubule Occlusion: We use acellular human or bovine dentine as test substrates to evaluate the ability of oral care product formulations or ingredients to block dentine tubules, which can, according to the literature, help alleviate dental sensitivity. We utilise two models: scanning electron microscope dentine occlusion studies and/or hydraulic conductance studies.

Enamel Repair & Protection: We use acellular human or bovine enamel as test substrates to evaluate the ability of oral care product formulations or ingredients to repair and protect artificial enamel lesions. Our services include pH cycling studies, surface microhardness studies and fluoride uptake studies.

Brushes and Interproximal Cleaning: We use acellular human tooth models as test substrates to evaluate the ability of oral care devices (e.g. flosses, interdental brushes or toothbrushes) to clean the interproximal regions of teeth.

Anti-plaque: We use human saliva as a test substrate to evaluate the ability of oral care product formulations or ingredients to prevent a plaque biofilm build-up, to remove dental plaque, or to buffer the pH of dental plaque to help prevent a pH drop to levels associated with demineralisation during plaque sucrose challenges.

Safety: We use acellular human or bovine enamel as test substrates to evaluate the safety of oral care product formulations or ingredients. Our services offerings include relative dentine or enamel abrasivity tests (RDA), assessing the capacity of tooth bleaching products (ISO 28399) or bespoke studies based upon individual requirements.

Clinical Study Support: We can partner with our established CRO partners to provide analytical support for clinical studies. Our analytical services can support: oral malodour studies, bioanalytical fluoride and calcium salivary clearance studies and in situ surface microhardness studies.

Hard Tissue Samples Preparation: We are licensed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to store and use human teeth for research purposes. We can prepare and supply acellular enamel and dentine samples, to support your internal R&D, as well a wide range of dental restoration materials.

RESOURCES 

Use this form to request our library of case studies or download using the links below:

• BROCHURE DOWNLOAD: Intertek Oral Care Product In Vitro Development Support Services
• CASE STUDY: Determining the Impact of a Toothpaste pH-Buffering System on Dental Plaque pH
• CASE STUDY: Efficacy Assessment of Interdental Brushes Through In-Vitro Studies
• CASE STUDY: Measuring Tooth Demineralisation and Remineralisation In Vitro
• CASE STUDY: Dentine Tubule Occlusion Studies
• CASE STUDY: Benchmarking Anti-Plaque Agents In Dentifrices And Mouthwashes
• CASE STUDY: Dentine and Enamel Block Preparation Supporting In-Vitro Oral Care Product Studies