GUM

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.

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

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

• Oral care products
• Interdental cleaning devices
• Professional dental supplies
• Consumer oral hygiene
• Periodontal health products

Headquarters

HQ city

Weesp

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

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

1. 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.
2. 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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Facebook Ireland Ltd. (Meta)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint 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)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint controller arrangement for Instagram Insights on GUM Instagram page (@gumunitedkingdom). Statistics compiled about visitor behavior including comments, content shares, and engagement.
• LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited CompanyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint 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)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerYouTube channel (youtube.com/user/LifeWithSunstar) analytics partnership providing statistical data on channel usage. SUNSTAR receives anonymous channel performance data from Google.
• TikTok Technology LimitedminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint 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.
• PlaybrushcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlaybrush 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/SunstarGUM
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/LifeWithSunstar
• Facebookfacebook.com/gumbenelux
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sunstar-benelux
• Instagraminstagram.com/gumunitedkingdom

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GUM