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Toothbrush and System with Sensors and User Identification

a technology of user identification and toothbrush, applied in the field of oral health care implements and systems, can solve the problems of more expensive power and unique challenges to the existing toothbrush mark

Inactive Publication Date: 2014-10-23
BEAM TECH
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes an improved toothbrush that has various sensors to monitor different health indicators. The toothbrush can connect to a data transfer medium or the cloud to transfer data. It also has a user identification system that allows the toothbrush to identify the user. The technical effects of this invention include improved oral health monitoring, data transfer, and user identification.

Problems solved by technology

The lack of adherence to these recommendations and lack of brushing compliance is often a contributing factor to the development of dental plaque and its associated complications.
Regular replacement of toothbrushes is often disregarded by users and cause issues as bristles become deformed and are no longer providing the proper cleaning.
Additionally, the introduction of data logging in toothbrushes presents unique challenges to the existing toothbrush market.
It is common for more expensive powered toothbrush bases to be used by multiple users that interchange heads depending on the user.
This provides the challenge of identifying the user that is currently using the toothbrush base and logging data.

Method used

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  • Toothbrush and System with Sensors and User Identification
  • Toothbrush and System with Sensors and User Identification
  • Toothbrush and System with Sensors and User Identification

Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

Embodiment Construction

[0015]The toothbrush and system with sensors and user identification is encompassed in a plurality of embodiments that shall be discussed in the present section.

[0016]A plurality of embodiments comprise a toothbrush. A toothbrush is an oral health care implement used for the cleaning of teeth and gingiva, more commonly referred to as gums. The toothbrush is operated in the oral cavity of a human being characterized as the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and saliva, and containing a mucous membrane epithelium lining referred to as the oral mucosa. The oral cavity is further characterized as having alveolar arches typically containing teeth, which are either natural, synthetic, or a combination thereof, and used primarily for the preparatory chewing of food for digestion.

[0017]A toothbrush comprises a brush head 112 consisting of a plurality of bristles 107 arranged into compact clusters, often referred to as tufts, mounted onto the brush head. Accordingly, th...

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Abstract

A toothbrush provides a unique opportunity to integrate health monitoring sensors into an object widely used by the mass population daily. A toothbrush is provided with various health monitoring sensors including an orientation sensor, oximetry sensor, capacitive sensor, pressure sensor, and temperature sensor. Further, the toothbrush is comprised in a system including a data transfer medium (i.e. “smartphone”) and the Cloud, which allows for data transfer between multiple platforms from the toothbrush. The system further allows for passive participation in social games with awards and incentives. The system and toothbrush further provide for active participation in brushing games to encourage proper brushing techniques. Further, the toothbrush also provides a user identification system utilizing capacitive coupling of the human body and a mobile unit that is optionally a “smartphone.” The mobile unit of the user identification system may also be used for user identification by other devices that require the user to touch them for proper use.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 772,576 filed on Mar. 5, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 781,400 filed on Mar. 14, 2013.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to oral health care implements and systems, particularly relating to improved toothbrushes utilizing new technologies for the dental field. In particular, the invention relates to the toothbrushes with sensors and user identification capabilities.[0003]Dental plaque is a biofilm that forms naturally on teeth between brushing and dental visits. Dental plaque can be a precursor to more severe oral health problems including: dental caries, tooth decay, gingivitis, and chronic periodontitis. The occurrence of dental caries is one of the largest health epidemics in the world and is the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States. Likewise, gingivitis and dental calculus are two of the most common system...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A46B9/04A46B15/00
CPCA46B9/04A46B15/0016A46B15/0004A46B15/0038A46B15/0006A46B15/0008A46B15/0012A61B5/0002A61B5/01A61B5/02416A61B5/14552
Inventor CURRY, ALEXANDER D.FROMMEYER, ALEX X.DYKES, DANIEL E.
Owner BEAM TECH
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