The Digital Optimization of The Toothbrush

5,000 years ago civilizations used twi4gs to remove food from their teeth.  Eventually, the process evolved towards the modern toothbrush with materials such as bone, ivory, and animal bristles. Fast-forward to Switzerland in 1954 and we have the world’s first electric toothbrush – the Broxodent. Since then we’ve seen our defender of decay evolve with adaptations of new bristles, flexible handles, and even take on a portable, disposable, and chew-able form. We have toothbrushes that sing to us, vibrate, rotate, and even clean themselves, but Beam saw the opportunity for more.The Beam Toothbrush connects your toothbrush to your mobile phone via the mobile application and can track your brushing progress, time your brushing while giving you notifications to switch quadrants, play a song while you work, and even uses goals and games to help improve your habits.

Simply purchase a Beam toothbrush and sync it to the free app on your mobile phone and let the fun begin.  The app will track and display how long you brush your teeth and can even send a report to your dentist before each visit.  For the competitive brushers out there, a series of pre-set goals give you a chance to earn “real-world incentives” and you can create your own unique challenges to really push your brushing skills.

While not everyone needs constant reporting on their brushing habits, this technology will surely prove useful for those with young children. Users can pair multiple Beam brushes to a single smartphone so Mom and Dad can monitor the young ones’ progress, and the kids can compete to see who brushes the best.  You also have access to a variety of education modules from professional resources designed to bring oral health information directly to you.

The Beam Toothbrush represents a continuing trend to optimize our everyday lives with the help of modern technological innovations. Not only does Beam make brushing your teeth efficient, but it engages you in the process and employs a competitive dynamic that adds to the experience. I can already see the posts on my Facebook feed now,

“Jon Doe brushed for a total of two and a half hours this week and hasn’t missed a day in 3 weeks…what about you?”

Being able to compete gives incentives for improving habits – which I can get behind. What I’m wary about is if the app will know when I don’t brush (which is never!) and will it tell all my Facebook friends how gross I am? Potential embarrassment aside, the Beam toothbrush will help young and old alike brush to the best of their ability and can single handily make oral hygiene cool again. OK – maybe that’s a bit of stretch, but it’s sure going to try.

– Scott H.