Philips' new location-aware Sonicare Connected toothbrush knows which teeth you're brushing
Location tracking, timers, pressure sensors. Have we hit peak toothbrush?
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Smart toothbrush plus phone app with tooth-map: keeping track of where you brush.
There are connected toothbrushes that track how long you brush. Philips Sonicare's newest model also wants to build a 3D map of your mouth.
The Philips Sonicare Flexcare Platinum Connected toothbrush, announced today, is the company's first adult brush with an app. And it has nearly as many features as its product name has letters. In addition to Bluetooth (of course), the brush adds accelerometer and gyros plus pressure sensors so it can tell what direction and angle the brush is facing, and how hard you're brushing. It shows this data and maps it against a 3D tooth map on an iPhone or Android app for real-time feedback as the brushing happens. I went to check out the brush, briefly, because I was curious. But I didn't get to brush with it.
The brush and app can handle personalized dental hygiene regimens, according to Philips. You can customize areas to target in the connected tooth-map phone app. This will also track your brushing habits over time. The brush senses which tooth you're near, and advises accordingly in-app. A dental hygienist could go over the personal tooth-map with the patient and address the trouble areas, and the brush would incorporate that extra coaching in the daily guidance. Extra attention to one tooth, or maybe taking it easy on the rear ones that just got crowns.
Besides location sensors, Philips' connected brush has features of the existing top-end Sonicate brush, the Philips Sonicare Flexcare Platinum Sonic: pressure sensors with vibrating feedback, three brushing modes with different intensity levels, and a two-minute timer.
Away from a phone the toothbrush won't handle the location-based brush guidance, but will do everything else and sync back to the phone app (it can last two weeks on a charge).
The brush costs $199.99 and is coming out later this summer. International pricing isn't available but this converts to about £138 or AU$267. I didn't get a chance to brush with one, but I watched a brief demo of how the brush recognizes location and position. I'm a pretty lax brusher, and I have no idea how my dentist would feel about this brush. Philips claims that people who have tested learned to brush better. Will it train me? I have no idea, but I'm curious. I'm just not sure I could put up with the hassle.