page_title: Sozodont
section_title: Decline in popularity
hierarchical_section_title: Sozodont / Decline in popularity
caption_attribution_description: English: A Sozodont cologne bottle, produced as a companion product to the Sozodont oral hygiene dentifrice. Approved for all use with attribution.
context_page_description: Sozodont was a popular brand of oral hygiene product from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century.
  Created in 1859 by druggist Roswell van Buskirk of New Jersey, it derived its name from the Greek sozo, meaning "to save", and dontia, meaning "teeth". Sozodont was later manufactured by the firm Hall & Ruckel of New York, New York, and London, England. Known as Van Buskirk's Fragrant Sozodont, or Van Buskirk's Fragrant and Antiseptic Sozodont, the product was dispensed from a glass bottle through a metal sprinkler and, as illustrated advertisements show, could be applied to the teeth using a toothbrush. The product made strong use of advertising as a marketing tool and by the late nineteenth century was an established household word.
context_section_description: Sozodont fell out of favor with consumers in the early twentieth century amid concerns about side effects of its usage.  As early as 1880, however, one dentist complained, "I will testify to what is so well known to most dentists, viz., that it [Sozodont] destroys the color of the teeth, turning them to a decidedly dark-yellow."  At the turn of the 20th century, another dentist echoed this complaint, stating that "The liquid of Sozodont . . . is far too alkaline for general use, and would in time destroy the enamel of the teeth and make them yellow."
caption: A Sozodont cologne bottle, introduced as a companion article to the Sozodont oral hygiene product.
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