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Thanks to technology you’re already aware that you log 10,000 steps a day, get about three hours of REM sleep a night, and rarely exceed your allotted daily 2,200 calories. But how much data are you collecting about your plaque buildup?
Probably not enough. Some 96 percent of Americans have tooth decay by the time they hit age 65 according to a recent study by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than a quarter of Americans have untreated cavities, according to the study.
It gets worse. One Harvard study found that men with a history of periodontitis had a 64 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those with healthy gums. Gum disease has also been linked to premature births. “Untreated cavities is the biggest untreated disease of mankind,” said Dr. Richard Nagelberg, chairman of the NYU College of Dentistry’s Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion.
If you’re the type of person who can rattle off your maximum heart rate then chances are your teeth and gums aren’t in dire condition. Still, if you take a zero-tolerance approach to cavities, the average American’s version of oral care isn’t really cutting it. In this case, some new thinking and some new tools are required. Here’s how you can use data and an IoT toothbrush to up your game?
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Dental Health’s Sacred Cows
Even though the future of oral care looks bright, this has been a disillusioning year for old school dental health techniques. The American Dental Association has admitted, for instance, that you don’t need bitewing x-rays every year (every two or three years is fine).
The biggest bombshell came after an Associated Press exposé revealed that there’s no proof that flossing does anything to prevent cavities or tooth decay.
It turns out that there’s also little direct evidence that a cleaning every six months does much for your teeth. (The biggest bombshell came after an Associated Press exposé revealed that there’s no proof that flossing does anything to prevent cavities or tooth decay.)
The good news is that some practices have withstood rigorous scientific testing and tech-driven oral care tools are starting to help the cause. For instance, it has been proven that fluoride toothpaste does prevent cavities, and powered toothbrushes also work better than the manual kind.
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Philips’ Approach
From a public health point of view, the biggest problem with oral care is that most people aren’t taking basic measures to protect their teeth and gums. A 2014 ADA study for instance found that 30 percent of people aren’t brushing twice a day. When they do brush, people often do it wrong. On average, brushers are spending one minute, 52 seconds a day when the American Dental Association recommends two two-minute sessions. “Even people who have all the right intentions may not be cleaning as well as they think,” said Dr. Aleksandro Grabulov, director innovation lead at Philips. “There are some very hard to reach areas in the mouth so you need a toothbrush that cleans deep between teeth and a way to know which areas you’ve covered.” While designing its latest toothbrush, the Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected, the company studied thousands of consumers and looked at data from 150,000 minutes of brushing. What they found was that there was a big gap between consumers’ perception of their brushing and reality.
Customized Fit
The latest brush head innovation is AdaptiveClean, a proprietary technology and the only Sonicare electric toothbrush head that can follow the unique shape the teeth and gums. With soft flexible sides made of rubber, the bristles of the brush head can adjust to the shape of each tooth’s surface. You get up to 4x more surface contact* and up to 10x more plaque removal** along the gum line and between teeth. The experience of using this unique bristle head design was even further enhanced by the connected experience and algorithms that were designed by carefully studying data from thousands of consumers during real-time brushing tests.
* Compared to a DiamondClean brush head
** than a manual toothbrush
Pretty intense
With three intensity settings and three cleaning modes, FlexCare Platinum offers optimal comfort as you get a truly deep clean. Use Clean mode for a superb everyday clean, White mode for stain removal or Deep Clean for an invigorating deep clean. Set the intensity to Low, Medium or High according to your personal preference.
The brush’s top speed is 62,000 brush movements per minute.
Battery life
A Lithium Ion rechargeable battery holds a charge for up to two weeks and never needs to be replaced.
Tooth-Bluetooth connection
The toothbrush includes a dedicated Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) that lets it receive data from the sensors and transmit it a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth signal.
Brushes that Feel
The Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum contains three sensors in the handle:
- Two sensors — a 3D gyroscope and a 3D accelerometer — are part of the 2.5mm x 3mm IMU (inertial measurement unit). The accelerometer measures the acceleration of the toothbrush. The gyroscope calculates rotational motion.
- The third 1mm force sensor measures the bristle pressure against the teeth.
Slide: 1 / of 5. Caption: Caption: The latest brush head innovation is AdaptiveClean, a proprietary technology and the only Sonicare electric toothbrush head that can follow the unique shape the teeth and gums. With soft flexible sides made of rubber, the bristles of the brush head can adjust to the shape of each tooth's surface. You get up to 4x more surface contact* and up to 10x more plaque removal** along the gum line and between teeth. The experience of using this unique bristle head design was even further enhanced by the connected experience and algorithms that were designed by carefully studying data from thousands of consumers during real-time brushing tests.
Slide: 2 / of 5. Caption: Caption: With three intensity settings and three cleaning modes, FlexCare Platinum offers optimal comfort as you get a truly deep clean. Use Clean mode for a superb everyday clean, White mode for stain removal or Deep Clean for an invigorating deep clean. Set the intensity to Low, Medium or High according to your personal preference. The brush’s top speed is 62,000 brush movements per minute.
Slide: 3 / of 5. Caption: Caption: A Lithium Ion rechargeable battery holds a charge for up to two weeks and never needs to be replaced.
Slide: 4 / of 5. Caption: Caption: The toothbrush includes a dedicated Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) that lets it receive data from the sensors and transmit it a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth signal.
Slide: 5 / of 5. Caption: Caption: The Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum contains three sensors in the handle. Two sensors — a 3D gyroscope and a 3D accelerometer — are part of the 2.5mm x 3mm IMU (inertial measurement unit). The accelerometer measures the acceleration of the toothbrush. The gyroscope calculates rotational motion. The third 1mm force sensor measures the bristle pressure against the teeth.
“We found that people – although they think they’re being super proactive in their oral health and they’re doing a good job, they don’t actually know,” said Sally Revell, director of consumer marketing, digital and connected innovation at Philips. That’s because there’s no data that shows whether they’ve done a good job. “How often do you really methodically brushed every tooth and every surface? How do you know you’ve done that with the right technique?”
Until now, there was no opportunity for real time feedback, which meant that people found out too late if they had a trouble spot. That’s why the latest toothbrushes like the FlexCare Platinum Connected include a new feature: Bluetooth connectivity.
A Bluetooth signal on the brush transmits data with Smart Sensor Technology via three sensors to a smartphone app. As you brush, the app directs you to six regions of your mouth, which all get 20 seconds of brushing over a 2-minute period. The sensors tell the app if you’re pushing too hard or scrubbed too aggressively. The location sensor also tells you if you reached every spot and brushed it well enough. This real-time feedback, via the smartphone app, offers the consumer and unprecedented opportunity to gauge their brushing acumen in real-time. Previously, the only way you’d get such feedback is by visiting the dentist every six months or so.
It doesn’t end there. After your 2-minute session, the app beckons you to brush again based on your most recent brushing habits, if necessary. Then it asks if you’ve flossed, rinsed with a fluoride mouthwash and cleaned your tongue. The 3D Mouth Map tracks your activity over time and gives you points for brushing well and following the other steps.
Finding trouble spots
The algorithm analyses the location of the brushing and the time spent. If the user hasn’t spent enough time in a particular section then the app’s TouchUp feature will flag it and give the user 20 seconds to go back for another pass. The app will also signal in real time when a user scrubs too much in one area or presses too hard.
Technique
To get most benefits from the connected Sonicare is to brush with the real-time feedback and coaching by being connected to your smartphone in the bathroom. You can also brush without the phone being connected and the brush will store your data and synch with your phone at regular intervals when you next activate the app. The brush can store up to six months of your brushing activity.
Preventative Maintenance
A brush head performance monitor notifies a user when the brush head needs replacing using an algorithm based on, brushing time and brushing pressure.
Tooth-brushing coach
In addition to offering real-time feedback, the app has an optional feature that lets users track their progress over time and set goals. Users can also send a progress report direct to their dentist if they choose.
2-Minute Rule
Dentists recommend you brush at least for 2 minutes at a time. A Smartimer on the device makes sure you continue brushing for that period. A BrushPacer interval timer tells you when to move to a different quadrant of your mouth.
Mouth map
Data from sensors is transmitted via Bluetooth to the app and a smart algorithm tells the app the exact location where the toothbrush is within the user’s mouth and estimates the users scrubbing activity and pressure applied. Both scrubbing data and pressure are combined with location sensor to enable a customized 3D mouth map based on brushing pattern.
The force sensor also gives a read on brush-head usage by looking at the time spent brushing and the pressure used over time, to provide precise brush head monitoring giving an advice of the replacement timing based on personalized brushing habits.
Slide: 1 / of 6. Caption: Caption: In addition to offering real-time feedback, the app has an optional feature that lets users track their progress over time and set goals. Users can also send a progress report direct to their dentist if they choose.
Slide: 2 / of 6. Caption: Caption: The algorithm analyses the location of the brushing and the time spent. If the user hasn’t spent enough time in a particular section then the app’s TouchUp feature will flag it and give the user 20 seconds to go back for another pass. The app will also signal in real time when a user scrubs too much in one area or presses too hard.
Slide: 3 / of 6. Caption: Caption: To get most benefits from the connected Sonicare is to brush with the real-time feedback and coaching by being connected to your smartphone in the bathroom. You can also brush without the phone being connected and the brush will store your data and synch with your phone at regular intervals when you next activate the app. The brush can store up to six months of your brushing activity.
Slide: 4 / of 6. Caption: Caption: Dentists recommend you brush at least for 2 minutes at a time. A Smartimer on the device makes sure you continue brushing for that period. A BrushPacer interval timer tells you when to move to a different quadrant of your mouth.
Slide: 5 / of 6. Caption: Caption: A brush head performance monitor notifies a user when the brush head needs replacing using an algorithm based on, brushing time and brushing pressure.
Slide: 6 / of 6. Caption: Caption: Data from sensors is transmitted via Bluetooth to the app and a smart algorithm tells the app the exact location where the toothbrush is within the user’s mouth and estimates the users scrubbing activity and pressure applied. Both scrubbing data and pressure are combined with location sensor to enable a customized 3D mouth map based on brushing pattern. The force sensor also gives a read on brush-head usage by looking at the time spent brushing and the pressure used over time, to provide precise brush head monitoring giving an advice of the replacement timing based on personalized brushing habits.
Revell said that this data-based accountability will alleviate one of the key tensions related to oral care: compliance. “The consumer wants to do the best they can, but they can’t really quantify what they’re doing wrong,” she said. “The hygienist gives them advice but they don’t follow it.” Will providing data change that? Philips’ approach harnesses the power of feedback loops. The idea is if you give people information in real time, they will become more self-conscious of their actions. For example, many municipalities have found that installing dynamic speed displays – those electric signs that show your driving speed in real-time – makes people slow down.
Feedback loops are also an integral component of the Quantified Self movement, which uses accurate data to help shape behaviors.
There is evidence that this works with oral care as well. A 2015 study in Japan for instance found that installing a tiny microphone in toothbrushes made volunteers brush better since they could hear how effective their brushing was. Feedback loops are also an integral component of the Quantified Self movement, which uses accurate data to help shape behaviors. Various fitness trackers and Philips’ new Health Watch have helped consumers track almost every aspect of their daily lives and improve their overall health.Will such tracking help improve their oral health too? It’s possible. Researchers who study feedback loops say that people are more motivated by the prospect of losing something they have than gaining something they don’t. Taking a cold hard look at the consequences of the average American’s half-hearted brushing routine should be enough. Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected is a tool that works best when the user knows what’s at stake.
This story was produced by the WIRED Brand Lab for Philips Sonicare