Newly launched device makes every toothbrush smart

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 2 November 2017

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LONDON, UK: A new, innovative device designed to support patients in their toothbrushing routine has been launched in the UK today. Brushlink tracks individual behaviour, like brushing frequency, duration and—for the first time—angle, and provides real-time guidance and performance monitoring to users.

While tracking of brushing behaviour is already available with the latest generation of electronic toothbrushes, Brushlink can be used with manual toothbrushes too, according to developer and London dentist Dr Dev Patel. Users of the device receive a score after each brush and tips on how to improve their behaviour. The collected data can be sent to a mobile app via Bluetooth and stored for up to three months for later use.

The main intention behind the device was to give dentists more information about their patients’ brushing behaviour in addition to encouraging better brushing, Patel said. “We have always had to rely on what we see inside the mouth every six months rather than having any reliable data about how people are brushing. I invented Brushlink to plug this gap by providing coaching to patients but also accurate monitoring of everything they are doing with their toothbrush between dentist visits.”

The launch follows worrying results of a new study that has indicated that brushing habits among people in the UK are seriously lacking. Conducted among 2,100 participants, it found, among other things, that one in two people constantly miss a quarter of their mouths when brushing. Brushing efficiency was worst among young people, according to the study, of which only every third said that they brush their teeth thoroughly.

In addition, over 60 per cent reported never having received correct brushing instructions from their dentists.

The study was conducted by Opinium between 24 and 26 October.

“There is no substitute for good tooth brushing practices when it comes to maintaining a healthy mouth, yet it would appear from the survey that there is a lot more that we can all do to achieve this effectively,” commented Prof. Elizabeth Kay, MBE, Foundation Dean of the Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry, oral health topic expert for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and a Brushlink scientific committee member. “The fact that this survey is in association with the launch of a new dental care product—and one which I think is the most amazing oral health product that I have seen in a long time—should encourage people to take its findings seriously, as it has been commissioned by a group of dentists who are passionate about improving the oral health of the nation,” she added.

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