The Coolest Gadgets for Oral Health, in and out of the Dentist’s Office
Advances in oral health technology have come a long way since the invention of the first bristle toothbrush in China during the Tang Dynasty (619–907). Today, even an Oral-B Spinbrush, which is only a couple of years old, feels slightly outdated.
With technology moving faster than ever, APIs at everyone’s disposal, and rapid product development widely adopted, there’s much fertile ground to innovate and create products in every category imaginable — oral health definitely not excluded.
As of recent, tools have been developed to make brushing teeth more interesting for adults and fun for kids. There are dental tools that can help dentists take a computerized bite analysis of patients teeth, which can help prevent the cracking of both natural and porcelain teeth. There are apps that can track daily oral health habits and produce statistics and analytics of oral health habits.
Here, we’ll highlight a few selected of the vast variety of oral health tools on the market today.
T-Scan
The T-Scan is an amazing tool that can help dentists analyze the bite. It’s essentially a tray with a very thin foiled sheet that kind of resembles a motherboard. This tray is connected to a computer imaging software, which allows the dentist to see details about the pressure of each tooth in a patient’s bite. When a patient bites down on the foiled sheet, pressure markers are analyzed, displayed and recorded in the software. This analysis allows the dentist to see if certain teeth are too high, or not high enough, where the pressure tooth-on-tooth is acute, and where a bite might need to be adjusted. This technology allows for precision never before possible when performing dental work.
For example, a crown or filling that you received might be taller than the rest of your teeth. It’s tough to tell from just a glance, how much the crown or filling interferes with your bite, and where it might need to be adjusted. With T-Scan, the guesswork is taken out of the process. Your dentist can see all the information displayed on the screen and can take the appropriate course of action.
Who it’s for: dental professionals and patients seeking the most top-notch technology in dental care
Playbrush
This innovative smart device features a cone shaped add-on which fits on most manual toothbrushes and connects to an app on your phone. Playbrush helps children with daily tooth-brushing by transforming their toothbrush into a gaming controller. This encourages and motivates children to brush by appealing to their desire to play and adding a gamification component to what seems like a daily chore. While brushing, the app encourages the child to complete missions, just like in your typical video game. Missions can be completed by solving fun instructional challenges while brushing teeth.
Who it’s for: parents who are tired of the perpetual fight of dragging their little ones away from the gaming console and into the habit of brushing their teeth
ISSA Toothbrush
Besides boasting a beautiful design, the Issa toothbrush comes with a very unique and interesting concept: it is made of silicone. The non-porous, soft silicone bristles are said to trap much fewer bacteria, and be less abrasive on the teeth than traditional bristle toothbrushes, making it more appealing to people with sensitive teeth. One huge win of the Issa, is it that the brush heads only need to be replaced once a year. Additionally, it’s easily chargeable via USB, making it ideal for travel. It also has a handy tongue cleaner attachment. Issa makes a mini version just for kids as well. If the toothbrush came with an app for monitoring statistics, it might take the spot for toothbrush of the year!
Who it’s for: people with sensitive teeth, travelers, anyone into beautifully designed healthcare.
Kolibree
As the self-proclaimed smartest and most elegant toothbrush, it really seems like it could live up to the hype. Kolibree weighs just 2.5oz, features wireless charging and single button control. What really makes it stand out from the rest, is the app. Available for iPhone & Android, the app allows you to control and improve your brushing habits thanks to a virtual coach. The app can motivate your children to brush their teeth by transforming the dull moment into something fun and exciting. Similar to Playbrush, the app features games. However, the big difference is that all of your brushing data and statistics will be accessible through the Kolibree application.
Kolibree is a fully connected smart toothbrush, which connects to your mobile device where you can select each individual family profile to track brushing habits and monitor statistics.
Who it’s for: techy families, gadget lovers, quantified-self enthusiasts.
There are so many more products to explore across wellness and oral health. We’ll be sure to feature more as they emerge.
Meanwhile, you can visit our site to find more on the latest dental technology available, and how we use that technology to drive incredible results for our patients.
