GUM
GUM is the oral-care brand of SUNSTAR Group, manufacturing interdental brushes, toothbrushes, mouth rinses, and probiotic supplements sold in 90+ countries. It serves dental professionals via field sales and a professional portal, alongside consumer retail and e-commerce channels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1926
- HeadquartersWeesp, Netherlands
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What GUM does
GUM is a professional and consumer oral care brand owned by Switzerland-based SUNSTAR Suisse S.A., part of the privately-held Japanese SUNSTAR Group founded in 1926. The company manufactures and distributes a comprehensive portfolio of oral hygiene products — including interdental brushes (GUM SOFT-PICKS PRO), manual and battery-powered electric toothbrushes (GUM SONIC, GUM ActiVital Sonic), dentifrices, chlorhexidine and other mouth rinses, and probiotic supplements (PerioBalance / Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis) — sold under the GUM and Butler brands. The business also operates mobile applications (GUM Playbrush and GUM Smart) via its wholly-owned subsidiary Playbrush, extending into connected oral care.
GUM operates across more than 90 countries with wholly-owned regional subsidiaries in the Americas (USA, Mexico, Brazil), Europe (Switzerland HQ, Germany, plus localized sites in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Austria), and Asia-Pacific (Japan, Singapore). The go-to-market model is dual: an enterprise field-sales motion via dedicated US Territory Sales Managers and regional contacts targeting dental professionals (dentists, periodontists, hygienists) through the professional.sunstargum.com portal, combined with a consumer-direct channel through retail, e-commerce, and the sunstargum.com storefront. Products are differentiated by clinical evidence backing interdental cleaning efficacy, ISO 13485 medical-device and ISO 9001 quality certifications, and educational content assets such as the "Let's Talk Oral Health" podcast and Perio Link program linking oral and systemic health.
GUM firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- GUM
- Legal name
- SUNSTAR Europe S.A.
- Website
- https://professional.sunstargum.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1926
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- GUM is the oral-care brand of SUNSTAR Group, manufacturing interdental brushes, toothbrushes, mouth rinses, and probiotic supplements sold in 90+ countries. It serves dental professionals via field sales and a professional portal, alongside consumer retail and e-commerce channels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
GUM industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Oral Care Products
- NAICS
- Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561)
- SIC
- Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Dental Floss, Picks & Interdental Cleaners (CRABAFAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Toothbrushes (Manual) (CRABAFAB), Electric Toothbrushes & Power Brush Heads (CRABAFAC), Oral Care Products (Toothpaste, Mouthwash, Dental Floss, Whitening) (CRADAMAA)
Keywords
Where GUM is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Weesp
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
GUM business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Professional Oral Care Products: Sale of oral care products including interdental brushes, toothbrushes, mouth rinses, and other dental hygiene products to dental professionals and for patient use. Products are sold under GUM and Butler brands in the USA, Canada, and Latin America.
- Consumer Oral Care Products: Direct-to-consumer and retail sale of oral care products for home use, including interdental cleaning devices, toothbrushes, and oral health supplements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Professional products sold through Territory Managers |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
GUM product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SUNSTAR GUM manufactures and sells a portfolio of oral care products including interdental brushes, rubber interdental picks, manual and battery-powered electric toothbrushes, dentifrices, mouthwashes, and probiotic supplements. The brand serves two distinct channels: dental professionals (dentists, periodontists, dental hygienists) through a dedicated professional portal, and end consumers through a separate consumer website and retail distribution.
Product overview
GUM is a comprehensive oral care brand by SUNSTAR offering a unified portfolio of dental professional and consumer products. The core product line includes interdental cleaning devices (interdental brushes, rubber picks), powered and manual toothbrushes, dentifrices, mouthwashes, and probiotic supplements. Butler brand products complement the portfolio. Digital offerings include the GUM Playbrush App for children's oral hygiene gamification and the GUM Smart App for smart toothbrush connectivity. The GUM Interdental Size Indicator serves as a professional tool for dental practitioners to prescribe appropriately-sized interdental cleaning products to patients.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- GUM ActiVital: Oral care product line including sonic toothbrushes
- GUM SONIC
- GUM SOFT-PICKS
- GUM SOFT-PICKS PRO
- Butler
- GUM Playbrush
- GUM Smart
Products and services
- GUM ActiVital Daily Range Daily oral care product line targeting gum-related conditions, part of GUM's targeted solutions for prevention and treatment of periodontal issues. Sold to dental professionals and consumers.
- GUM SONIC Battery Electric Toothbrush Battery-powered electric toothbrush that makes effective plaque removal more accessible, designed to improve patient compliance with oral hygiene routines. Part of the mechanical plaque control product line.
- GUM Soft-Picks Pro Interdental Brush Interdental cleaning device designed to remove plaque between teeth, clinically demonstrated to be more effective than dental floss for interdental cleaning.
- GUM Soft-Picks (Rubber Interdental Picks) Rubber interdental picks clinically shown to be equally effective as interdental brushes for plaque removal and gingival inflammation reduction, with added benefit of gum massage.
- GUM Interdental Size Indicator Color-coded sizing tool based on ISO standards that helps dental professionals prescribe the right interdental brush size for patients based on their interdental space measurements.
- GUM ActiVital Sonic Toothbrush Sonic toothbrush with advanced cleaning technology for gum care. Winner of the Dentex Innovation Award in 2018.
- GUM Probiotic Products (PerioBalance) Probiotic supplements containing Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis designed to support gum health and maintain healthy oral microbiome balance.
- GUM Mouthwash Products Mouth rinse products including chlorhexidine-based therapeutic mouthwashes for managing oral conditions, plus daily-use formulations.
- GUM Dentifrice (Toothpaste) Products Fluoride toothpastes and dentifrice products designed for daily oral care and gum health maintenance.
- Butler Brand Products Oral care products sold under the Butler brand, complementing GUM's product portfolio for dental professionals and patients in the USA, Canada, and Latin America.
- GUM Playbrush App Mobile app for children that gamifies oral hygiene, making brushing teeth engaging through interactive features. Developed by Playbrush, an affiliate company within the SUNSTAR Group.
- GUM Smart App Mobile companion app for oral care monitoring and smart toothbrush connectivity, enabling users to track and improve their brushing habits.
Quantifiable outcome
- Interdental brushes remove more plaque than tooth brushing alone and are more effective than dental floss for interdental cleaning (Slot et al., 2008 systematic review)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use GUM
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
GUM technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
GUM partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Facebook Ireland Ltd. (Meta)minorJoint controller arrangement for Facebook page insights on GUM UK Facebook page (facebook.com/GUM.UnitedKingdom). SUNSTAR receives anonymous, aggregated data about page visitor actions. Data processed for page insights includes comments, shares, and engagement metrics.
- Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Instagram)minorJoint controller arrangement for Instagram Insights on GUM Instagram page (@gumunitedkingdom). Statistics compiled about visitor behavior including comments, content shares, and engagement.
- LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited CompanyminorJoint controller arrangement for LinkedIn Page Insights on SUNSTAR Europe LinkedIn page (linkedin.com/company/sunstar-europe). Anonymous, aggregated data about page engagement received by SUNSTAR.
- Google Ireland Limited (YouTube)minorYouTube channel (youtube.com/user/LifeWithSunstar) analytics partnership providing statistical data on channel usage. SUNSTAR receives anonymous channel performance data from Google.
- TikTok Technology LimitedminorJoint controller arrangement for TikTok page and TikTok pixel tracking. Data collected includes advert information, IP address, user agent, and pixel trigger time. Used for advertising attribution and campaign performance reporting.
- PlaybrushcorePlaybrush is an affiliate company within SUNSTAR Group that shares personal data with other group companies for specific business processes. Playbrush develops smart toothbrush technology and oral care apps (GUM Playbrush and GUM Smart).
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
GUM competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- DenTek: US specialist in interdental/interproximal accessories (picks, flossers, night guards); smaller and more consumer-channel-skewed than GUM but directly comparable in the interdental category.
- Curaden (Curaprox): Swiss oral-care specialist with a very similar professional-plus-consumer proposition (training for hygienists, premium brushes, interdental tools); closest geographic and segment overlap with SUNSTAR Europe/GUM.
- TePe Munhygienprodukter AB: Swedish family-owned oral-care company that, like GUM, is built around interdental brushes and dental-professional recommendation; very comparable focus on prophylaxis products, professional channel distribution, and Scandinavian-style oral-health education.
- Colgate-Palmolive: Global oral-care CPG leader (Colgate, elmex, meridol) with established professional and consumer presence; directly competitive across toothpaste, mouthwash, and brush categories in which GUM also operates.
- Water Pik, Inc. (Waterpik): US-based specialist in interdental and water-flosser oral-care devices; competes head-to-head with GUM in professional-recommended home cleaning devices across retail and dental channels.
Regional players
- Lion Corporation: Japanese consumer-goods company with a leading oral-care portfolio (CLINICA, Etiquette, Dentor) that competes with GUM primarily in Japan and select APAC markets where SUNSTAR also has strong presence.
Broad incumbents
- Philips (Sonicare): Philips Sonicare is the category-defining brand in sonic/electric toothbrushes that competes directly with GUM SONIC; broader conglomerate health-and-wellness portfolio overlaps with SUNSTAR GUM positioning.
- Kenvue (Listerine): Listerine is the dominant therapeutic mouthwash brand (including chlorhexidine-adjacent Rx rinses) and competes directly with GUM's mouthwash portfolio across professional and retail channels.
- Procter & Gamble (Oral-B, Crest): Conglomerate with two anchor oral-care brands (Oral-B in power brushes, Crest in toothpaste) that compete across GUM's full portfolio with much larger marketing and R&D scale.
- GSK Consumer Healthcare (Sensodyne, Aquafresh): Major oral-care incumbent behind Sensodyne and Aquafresh; competes with GUM in dentifrice and is increasingly active in the gum-health/periodontal claim space where GUM differentiates.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
GUM social profiles
Digital presenceGUM compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
GUM financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
GUM leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
GUM subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
GUM funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
GUM M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about GUM
What does GUM do?
SUNSTAR GUM manufactures and sells a portfolio of oral care products including interdental brushes, rubber interdental picks, manual and battery-powered electric toothbrushes, dentifrices, mouthwashes, and probiotic supplements. The brand serves two distinct channels: dental professionals (dentists, periodontists, dental hygienists) through a dedicated professional portal, and end consumers through a separate consumer website and retail distribution.
Is GUM a public or private company?
GUM is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was GUM founded?
GUM was founded in 1926. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is GUM based?
GUM is headquartered in Weesp, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does GUM make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Professional Oral Care Products are the primary driver. The others are consumer Oral Care Products.
Who are GUM's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are DenTek, Curaden (Curaprox), TePe Munhygienprodukter AB, Colgate-Palmolive and Water Pik, Inc. (Waterpik). Lion Corporation is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Philips (Sonicare), Kenvue (Listerine), Procter & Gamble (Oral-B, Crest) and GSK Consumer Healthcare (Sensodyne, Aquafresh).
Does GUM have an API?
No public API is recorded for GUM.
What industry is GUM in?
GUM's product category is Oral Care Products. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRABAFAE, Dental Floss, Picks & Interdental Cleaners, with a secondary code of CRABAFAB, Toothbrushes (Manual). Its NAICS code is 32561 and its SIC code is 2844.