klynb wrote:That, of course, is where you put the price tag when you sell them individually.

Now that I look closely, it seems that one is "allowed" to sell the 8-packs individually, but not the 2-packs from the 8-packs.

Years ago it made much more sense when they were marked "Not Labeled For Individual Sale", which simply let shopkeepers know that there were no single unit barcodes on the packages.

I bought a few of these for a trip to Africa a little over a year ago. I tried one of them at the airport and it was absolutely horrible. The toothpaste is extremely hard and its like a solid form of those spray mouth fresheners. The taste is terrible and brushing your teeth with them isn't any better. I would honestly stay away from these.

sdc100 wrote:Are these just for bad breath or do they also prevent cavities? After brushing, where do all the food pieces go? Doesn't sound like there is enough liquid to spit out since rinsing is not required.

I'd like to use these while camping but bad breath is not our concern; oral hygeine is.

If you are car camping I would take a full-size toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Doesn't take up too much room and weight is not a concern. If you are backpacking, I'd say take one of these and reuse. I'd still want toothpaste - though the powdered kind (weight issue again). But then I've been backpacking with people who use their finger and their all-purpose soap for dental hygiene. Not sleeping in my tent that's for sure.

glazedfaith wrote:And then brush your teeth with a real toothbrush. Even natural sugars feed the bacteria that cause cavities.

or just drink some water.

Looks like a great product for on-the-road sales or technical people!

Me, I just chew gum most of the day.

Maybe instead of putting out a candy or cheese and crackers with wine when guests come over we could offer these.

dliidlii wrote:or just drink some water.

Quite so, quite so. Not sure why I decided to get all up in arms over a product that is a crappy excuse to not brush, and gives a false sense of dental hygiene.

Don't buy!! These things are crap and don't work. The bristles are very uncomfortable and super hard and don't clean, and the toothpaste takes forever to dissolve. You will be throwing these away if you buy them.

Great idea, crap product.

showcaller wrote:I would consider buying these if they were refurbished. I don't need new.

I agree. If these were refurb, I'd be in for 3. But new? meh...

klynb wrote:That, of course, is where you put the price tag when you sell them individually.

Now that I look closely, it seems that one is "allowed" to sell the 8-packs individually, but not the 2-packs from the 8-packs.

It would be smart for some enterprising diner owner or hotdog vendor to have these to display for 99 cents each. If s/he bought 3 Woots = $4.99 x 3 + $5s/h = 19.97/144 = 14 cents each.

THAT'S A 600% PROFIT!!!

Myztri wrote:In for 3. I pay 2 bucks for 4 of them. I am on call a lot, and when I work, I tend to work between 10 and 24 hours at a time (I help women have babies) so fresh mouth is nice when you are up in someones face. I keep some in my purse, work bag, car, diaper bag, etc. Never know when you have to meet a client after a garlic filled lunch.

Must be from the NBA. (I help women have babies)

But what about the landfill? I have used them once, and it was nice, but the landfill ...

I cannot believe people are complaining about the wastefulness and lack of "green". These things are two inches long. And thinner than a pencil. How many of these would it take to fill up a landfill? If it concerns you that much, devote your life to recycling them by creating new things: become the master of the miniature picket fence or something.

I will be getting these in the morning. It never fails that we leave the house in a hurry and one of my kids forgot to brush their teeth. And the thought of facing that kind of breath all day is horrifying. So I hand them one of these and we are all much better off.

pass,,,I stop using regular toothpaste. I now use an all natural tooth soap. Regular toothpaste has done enough damage no matter what I did.

These are particularly useful when someone tries to kiss you, after dinner, which contained many onions. It is much simpler to get one out for yourself and insist they try one - "You'll love it! They're so neat and new!" then to remark that you are going to go brush your teeth, because your breath is surely terrible for making out after that onion-y dinner.

Can I presume that these are TSA-compliant?

I keep these in my cabinet at work next to a tiny Thermarest mattress. It's kinda nice to take a nap between teaching classes with a real flat soft bed and do the whole waking up process all over again with coffee, brushing teeth, etc. all without having to leave the room.

The boss lurks somewhere outside my classroom. And he never shuts up. The more I can do inside my room the better.

These are great for packing in a carry-on bag. Trust me on that! I was stranded in the Moscow airport during the Icelandic volcano eruption and was glad I had a couple Wisps! Everyone knew I was a hoopy frood!

I figure if I don't use them they're always good for giving to a girl complaining about having icky teeth.

Gatzby wrote:I'm guessing these don't work well on that bitter taste, but worth a try!

Well, I thought it was Vodka but curiously, she was never drunk. The bitterness is now all mine, and as revenge, I might send her 3 boxes of these Wisps... Nah, I'll let her buy them and deduct them as a work-related tax write off for an "escort."

jhitesma wrote:Except that if you look closely at the photos it says "Not for individual resale" right on the front of the packages.

That's what it says on software that Microsoft gives as a gratuity for doing a User Research Study too, but...

All you need to do is put a "Half Price" sticker on anything and people will buy it.

As for the software, check Craigslist/Seattle for "NFR" and see how often MS software gets sold!

My main bone to pick with these brushes is the waste. In the movie "Objectified" one of the things that designers were working on is a tooth brush that had a reusable handle! This is a 180 from that goal!

If they had made the brush/handle out of the material like the new compost-able cutlery, this would make sense.

BTW - "Objectified" is a really interesting documentary on design, and is on Netflix streaming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a168fVO10Vo

My husband always carries these - I'm gluten-intolerant, and if we're out to dinner and he goes all facedown in the bread basket, there will be no smoochings until he's brushed.

Sure, they make Al Gore cry, but what price gluten-free smooching?

glazedfaith wrote:And then brush your teeth with a real toothbrush. Even natural sugars feed the bacteria that cause cavities.

Apples are especially bad because they're sugary and acidic. Acidic enough to harm the teeth but not enough to inhibit the bacteria.

well ... i guess now i have the answer to my question "what useful aid could i send to poor kids in Africa today?" .. I could probably provide good oral hygiene to an entire village for a month for less than $100

sdc100 wrote:Apples are especially bad because they're sugary and acidic. Acidic enough to harm the teeth but not enough to inhibit the bacteria.

Yeah, apples and most fruits are very bad. Ask any health professional. They are always recommending eating less fruit.

Buy 3 of these, and give them out to all the kids next halloween, instead of candy.
All of the kids will love you!

FYI for all vegan/vegetarians:

Colgate wisps use a gelatin-based gel-cap to contain the liquid.

While you don't actually swallow this part, fragments of the gelatin could come loose and you might swallow it.

Depending on how dedicated you are to your vegan/vegetarianism, you may want to take this into consideration before purchasing.

Kip Kay made a quick-draw gadget for Wisp a while back.

Apparently people in the Western US have worse breath than people in the Eastern US!

showcaller wrote:Maybe instead of putting out a candy or cheese and crackers with wine when guests come over we could offer these.

Oh you party animal!!! Watch out Martha Stewart!

glazedfaith wrote:Honestly they do nothing for your teeth. It's like brushing with astro-turf, scratching at the stuff on your teeth. You'd be better off rubbing your teeth on the collar of your t-shirt, and chewing a piece of gum (sugarless, of course, otherwise what's the point?)

Honestly, I don't understand what some of you are eating. These things leave my teeth feeling cleaner that my regular toothbrush, and I love the tooth-pick thingy. It reaches between my teeth like a regular toothbrush can't begin to. In for three.

Dang, I paid two bucks more the other day on shnoop!

mykie wrote:Colgate wisps use a gelatin-based gel-cap to contain the liquid.

I was getting upset at myself for reading through so many comments instead of just buying and calling it a day, when I came across this post.
Karma!
Avoided making a costly mistake, and I don't mean just the dollars.

However, I would like to be absolutely sure. Where can I get more info on this?
Thanks!

[EDIT_2 Note: removed references to the bead being antimicrobial [anti-microbial beads were from a similar product from another company]. This primarily reduces the number of concurrent but still, the brushes don't get nasty because the increase in fresh saliva performs the antimicrobial action]

These are technically reusable. I just make sure there's no chunks of food in the bristles and just put them back in the package. They last 4-8 uses this way with no foul tastes or odors (unless you don't like the taste of the bead). They clean as well as a standard toothbrush an are great for the glove box.

[EDIT_1] Oh, and when your done using them for your mouth, they make great little scrub brushes for all sorts of stuff (I've used them to help work out stains in clothes, cleaned grout, and used one is a small back scratcher so far).
[/EDIT_1]

The price is great, the cheapest I've seen them (on sale) was $1 for a 4 pack (so $12 for 48), although most places are $1.30 for 2 around here ($15.60).

The only problem I've ever had with them is that the bead kept falling out in one of them.

And the only problem I have with this particular woot is that we only get to order ONE flavor. WOOT! Can we get a variety pack? Please? I'll be in for 3 instead of 1!

salisali wrote:I was getting upset at myself for reading through so many comments instead of just buying and calling it a day, when I came across this post.
Karma!
Avoided making a costly mistake, and I don't mean just the dollars.

However, I would like to be absolutely sure. Where can I get more info on this?
Thanks!

Googled it. Gelatin, indeed, is one of the ingredients. No mention anywhere of it being K-Gel or Veg-Gel, so I'm going to stay away.

Thanks again to mykie for bringing it to everyone's attention.

If you want to try these before you click the big button...they are only a buck for four at Dollar Tree stores.
Strangely, they hang right next to the two-packs that are also a buck!
Choose your own bargain!

To the people complaining about the "toothpaste" tasting gross and being hard. I'd imagine if you're trying to dissolve the whole bead it would probably be pretty strong. It is a freshening/disinfecting slow release bead. It is not toothpaste and should not be used as if it was. If you get a bad aftertaste you probably tried to scrub the bead with your teeth and got too much of it (the disinfectant isn't the best tasting thing in large quantities).

All I can say is go buy a pack and try again only don't treat it like it's toothpaste. If you end up liking it then catch the end of this woot or the next, if you don't then it's just not for you (although I'd love to hear what the reasons are).

I've used these Colgate Wisp thingys for awhile now and need to use them a few times a week between meals when I can't brush at work or when I go out after a dinner out and stuff like that. They're very effective and handy. I like them a lot. Despite their small size you can get to the back teeth too... unless you've got a tiny mouth and ham hands and sausage fingers. In for three most definitely. These little suckers are kind of expensive in the stores and this is an outstanding deal.

I just hope they don't come with an expiration date that's too soon since I will have 144 of the lil buggers. I'd hate to buy them in January 2011 and when they arrive I find an expiration date within just a few months.