Continuing our long working relationship with Johnson & Johnson, XVIVO created a series of animations for their Listerine mouth rinse line of products. The animations were all developed for dental professionals, to educate them on the mechanism and benefit of the various Listerine products.
Certain visual elements were carried through the Listerine animations to create a cohesive and memorable experience for the viewer. For example, hexagons were used to represent the active parts of each mouth rinse, with different color schemes to mirror the branding for each product.
Starting with the animation for the flagship Listerine Antiseptic mouth rinse, which has been available for over 100 years, we begin at an interior view of the mouth, showing brushing and flossing to remove plaque from the surface of the tooth. When Listerine Antiseptic is introduced for rinsing, the viewer is taken on an amusement park splash ride inside the mouth.
Listerine Antiseptic’s efficacy is tied to its natural ingredients: essential oils derived from plants. When we zoom in closer, we see a carpet of bacterial biofilm in the mouth being swept away while rinsing. After rinsing, the few remaining wounded bacteria on the tissue surface remind the viewer of a battlefield after the fight. On a single cell level, the bursting bacteria evoke some strong visceral reactions. Makes you want to rinse your mouth out, right now.
The second animation, for Listerine Total Care, focused on the benefits of a fluoride-based rinse. To conceptualize the damage to tooth enamel from our eating habits, the hydroxyapatite rods that make up the tooth enamel were given a level of fine surface detail reminiscent of an eroded canyon wall.
Geometrical shapes were vivid choices to depict the fluoride, calcium, and phosphate molecules that can bind together to create fluorapatite. A shower of fluoride hexagons depositing themselves on the eroded enamel drives home the message of effective remineralization of the tooth’s surface. This animation concludes with a wash of Listerine Total Care crashing over the viewer from inside the mouth.
Continuing the series is an animation for Listerine Sensitivity mouth rinse, to help dental practitioners understand the science behind mouth sensitivity and the rinse’s efficacy. Tooth sensitivity occurs when surfaces of the tooth, dentin, that are normally covered become exposed.
This animation showcases the interplay between the detailed physical structure of channels in the dentin called tubules, the fluid flow inside the tubules, and the signals that propagate from the connected nerves when they are exposed to a trigger such as a drink that is hot, cold, or acidic. The calcium oxalate crystals that form after rinsing with Listerine Sensitivity resemble snow falling on the textured surface of the dentin, that accumulate and block the tubule openings.
We are thrilled to have also partnered with Johnson & Johnson on two other Listerine projects recently, both virtual reality experiences: a mouth dysbiosis and biofilm formation experience, and a data visualization experience for results of a site-wise analysis after using Listerine.