IS MISWAK THE FUTURE OF ORAL HYGIENE? THIS DESIGNER THINKS SO
▶ Leen Sadder never imagined throwing a way a tube of toothpaste would change her life, says Caline Malek
When Leen Sadder threw away a tube of toothpaste after class one day, she never imagined it would be the start of a journey that would lead her to move to Dubai and see her name appearing in media reports around the world.
The 30-year-old was following instructions to “redesign the first thing you throw away” as part of a project in her product design class at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
When that thing turned out to be a tube of toothpaste, Sadder decided to research the historical traditions around dental hygiene. “That’s when I came across an article from the World Health Organisation about the miswak,” she said.
Miswak is an organic and natural teeth-cleaning stick that comes from the Salvadora persica, or arak tree. It has traditionally been used for oral hygiene in Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries since ancient times, and is thought to have antibacterial and plaque-reducing properties.
“It has natural medicinal benefits and ... I knew it also had heritage significance.
“And it’s considered Sunnah – referring to the daily practice of the Prophet Mohammed
– in Islam, so I was surprised it wasn’t more well known,” Ms Sadder said. It is said the Prophet Mohammed and his messengers used miswak.
“I thought it would be an interesting challenge to modernise it and revive it, and bring it to an audience that doesn’t know it,” the Lebanese designer said.
She bought some miswak and found that although she loved the natural toothbrush, it was not well packaged – it was tricky to store and to keep clean.
So she created a prototype storage case that peeled the stick, readying it for use, and stored it.
After presenting her project to class and without thinking much of it, Ms Sadder uploaded the concept to her online portfolio. That is when everything changed.
“A big industrial design blog found it and featured it in one of their articles,” Ms Sadder said. “And it started to spread to different US-based blogs like Gizmodo as a natural toothbrush that nobody knows about.” Her name and product was featured in global media outlets, and she soon began receiving emails from around the world asking to buy the toothbrush.
“After I graduated, I started working on it more seriously. I hired an industrial designer to join the team so we could design a carrying case that could cut, peel and store [miswak] and start producing it.”
She started a crowdfunding campaign for the project with Zoomaal and raised US$18,750 (Dh68,859) in a month. “I realised that there was a lot of interest coming from Saudi, Islamic communities and the GCC,” she said, so she quit her job in a digital design firm, moved to Dubai, and the team went into production. “It made more sense to come to Dubai, which is the hub for these communities.”
The product, now known as THIS Toothbrush, launched two years ago, and “it’s been doing great,” Ms Sadder said.
“There is definitely a demand for something modern that’s still tied to heritage.” What started off as a student project soon attracted a huge audience, and now there are even variations designed for Ramadan gifting – the time when the product is most in demand.
Companies can customise the product to be used for corporate gifts, and Ms Sadder offers monthly subscriptions delivered to your door. Her online shop ships worldwide, and The Cutter Case, including two miswaks, costs between Dh85 and Dh99.
“People were intrigued and thought I was crazy at first,” Ms Sadder said. “I would have probably never thought to pursue it if I hadn’t seen such a strong reaction.”
I hired an industrial designer to join the team so we could design a carrying case that could cut, peel and store [miswak]