Business name: BrushBaby Ltd
Based: Ovington
Website: www.brushbaby.co.uk
Person nominated: Dominique Tillen
Dental decay is a preventable disease. One in three ten-year-olds have some form of dental decay, and 500 children are hospitalised every week with a loss of 1.1m parental work days.
Passionate about the importance and education of dental care, Dominique Tillen started Brush-Baby because she couldn’t find a suitable toothbrush for her baby daughter, who chewed on her conventional toothbrush.
Her dental habits led to the design of a Chewable Toothbrush, followed by other products created and formulated for babies, toddlers and infants. They take into account their size, developing dentition and manual dexterity, with an easy-to-follow three-step oral healthcare programme.
From a standing start and completely self-funded, a £1m turnover is predicted for Brush-Baby’s sixth year. With just six employees and undertaking flexible working practices herself, Dominique offers the same to her staff.
Dominique isn’t a dentist, and didn’t have any formal training within the dental industry, yet as a mother, she just knew that there was a better way.
It has taken a mum to make the dental industry sit up and take notice, and for Brush-Baby to become a generic name for children’s dental care. Its baby DentalWipes, ergonomic toothbrushes and natural palatable toothpastes are now stocked in leading UK supermarkets and distributed in 22 countries, taking on and beating established multinational brands with multi-million advertising and marketing budgets.
