dental
Latest
The Kolibree smart toothbrush uses AI to help you clean your mouth
Be honest, you probably don't brush your teeth quite as often or as thoroughly as your dentist recommends. But that's OK: With the Kolibree Ara AI-enabled smart toothbrush, you can keep up with your daily dental routine and know exactly where you've missed.
Regenerative tooth fillings could put an end to root canals
You really don't want a root canal, and not just because it's potentially painful. Emptying the tooth of the infected tissue at its heart potentially weakens it, since you can't grow that organic material back or put toxic fillings in its place. Researchers may have a solution, though. They've crafted fillings that get the tooth's own stem cells to regenerate and repair tissue. This doesn't mean that your pearly whites would return to normal, but the substance could heal the tooth enough to spare you a root canal or prevent fillings from going south.
Scrubbing with a toothbrush that knows when you missed a spot
Mobile World Congress is predominantly about smartphones, however look hard enough and you'll find all sorts of other surprises too. Take Oral-B, which chose Barcelona as the place to announce the B-Genius, a new toothbrush that knows exactly where you're scrubbing. A built-in accelerometer clocks the angle, while your phone's front-facing camera tracks its location and your dentures. As you brush, the companion app highlights the places you've cleaned and the spots you might have missed. So of course, we had to try it for ourselves and see if it's worth the hassle.
'Painless' dental cavity procedure regrows tooth enamel
When a dentist says the word "cavity" a lot of people sweat thinking about painful injections and relentless drilling. But scientists in Britain have developed a new procedure dubbed EAER, or "Electrically Assisted Enhanced Remineralisation," that can repair a slightly decayed tooth before a deep cavity forms. The supposedly painless procedure involves cleaning (not drilling) the tooth of any signs of mild decay, then flushing it with minerals and stimulating it with an electric pulse. This pushes the minerals into the deepest part of the lesion and speeds up a naturally occurring process called "remineralization". This is where minerals in your saliva and some foods enter the tooth enamel and make it stronger.
Amron Experimental 'Rinser Toothbrush' is back, now with more fountain (video)
The original Rinser Toothbrush was a dental delight. Now, Amron Experimental has updated its classic "Brush & Rinse" for the modern mouth. So, what's new in 2012 for the revolutionary chomper-washer? First of all: Power Fountain. No more lowly trickle of water to chase, this time a proud stream of H2O leaps upwards from its center. Secondly, the heads are now replaceable, meaning you can keep your Brush & Rinse in service much longer. Still have the taste of "unconvinced" in your mouth? Watch the tap of awesome flow in the video after the break. Think this is what your morning routine has been missing? Then head to the source where you can pre-order now for a minty-fresh $22.
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean USB toothbrush to stay fresh at your desk
For the modern dental enthusiast, we present to you the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean USB toothbrush -- because keeping your stank breath fresh at your computer is essential for early morning Skype calls. Long since gone are the days where brushing your teeth was limited to the bathroom. Nowadays, you'll need to keep those chompers fresh no matter where you might find yourself, including (but not limited to): the computer lab at school, your home office, your boss' office, or maybe even the Apple Store. Claiming up to 100 percent plaque removal and 44 percent more bristles, some are going so far as to call this £250 ($405) teeth gleamer the "iPod of toothbrushes." Check out the full PR and the so fresh, so clean jam after the break. Update: the folks at Philips emailed to let us know the USB toothbrush will sell for a suggested $219.99 in the US.
Hanako 2 robot acts like a human dental patient, makes us say 'aah' (video)
No, she's not in a state of shock, nor is she hunting for plankton -- she's simply waiting for the dentist to polish her pearly whites, just like any other conscientious robot. Known as the Showa Hanako 2, this humanoid was originally developed last year as a tool for dentists looking to practice new procedures. Now, engineers at Japan's Showa University have updated their dental denizen, adding a motorized head and replacing her PVC skin with a more realistic silicon coating. She also boasts speech recognition capabilities and can execute freakishly natural movements, including blinking, sneezing, coughing and, under more unsavory circumstances, even choking. See her in action for yourself, after the break.
Thanko USB dental device will help prove you still need a dentist
Oh, the joys of self-diagnosis. Thanko's unleashed a USB dental "microscope" to let you check out the inside of your own mouth in great detail -- because you're so much more knowledgeable than a real dentist, right? This puppy's got six LEDs plus a small CMOS camera so you can shoot JPEGs / BMPs or 1,280×1024 resolution vids of your champers then check them out on your home computer. Of course, the sample shots (which are disgusting and after the break) inexplicably show a closeup of someone's scalp, demonstrating that this USB badboy has a variety of uses, all of them pretty gross. Is there something wrong with us if we just don't want to see our bodies in that much detail? It's only available on Thanko's Japanese site for the time being, and costs in the neighborhood of $80, but we have a feeling that it'll show up in the States anyday now... as soon as Oprah gets wind of it. [Via Gizmodo]
Sirona dental digitizer makes cavities look better than ever
We may not all be getting dental examinations at home just yet, but we can at least be thankful that companies like Sirona are doing their best to speed up our visits to the dentist and, frankly, make them a little more awesome. Their latest device is the CEREC AC, which makes use of the so-called Bluecam pictured above to capture images of "near inaccessible areas with the utmost precision." That's apparently made possible in part thanks to its use of a blue LED that illuminates the area, and some built-in shake detection and automatic image capturing software that ensures that just the right images are captured. The main CEREC AC unit comes into the picture to work some CAD/CAM magic on those images and, as you can see after the break, it seems more than ready to handle a few late night games of Marble Madness should the urge arise.[Via Medgadget]
Chinavasion's wireless dental camera enables at-home grill examinations
Oddly enough, we've seen mouth-mounted cameras before, but those have typically been used more for sport and less for serious matters. Chinavasion, of all companies, has just introduced its very own wireless dental camera, which puts a 1.3-megapixel camera on the end of a toothbrush-like apparatus in order to snap shots and transmit them wirelessly to a nearby display. Trying to find a respectable way to talk your kid out of dental school? $103.13 should provide all the necessary grossness to sway their decision.[Via CNET]
GumEase dental mouthpiece numbs without needles
Next time you go to the dentist for some dreadfully painful procedure, you may have the option of eschewing that Novocaine-bearing needle for a flexible dental mouthpiece that turns out the lights on your maxillofacial nerves. Developed by Laguna Hills-based BioMedDevice Limited, and recently approved by the FDA, the so-called gumEase uses no conventional anesthetics, instead relying on cryoanesthesia: basically, the freezer-stored device chills your mouth into numbness. One application of gumEase, which lasts up to 20 minutes, is said to relieve 90% of a patient's pain within two to three minutes -- and to prove it, the manufacturer has produced a rather graphic video depicting a hypodermic-free tooth extraction, which you can watch at your own risk after the break. With products such as this one and the RelaxView HMD seemingly making dental visits more pleasant than ever before, we may actually have to review our policy of only making appointments during leap years.
Simroid robot lets dental students know what hurts
We've already seen medical students operate on robots that bleed, yap and flat-line, but it's about time dental students underwent the same kind of scrutiny, don'tcha think? If things go as planned, future dentists in Japan could soon be practicing on Simroid, a humanoid that resembles a young woman and can talk back when students hit a nerve. Reportedly, the bot can exclaim "it hurts" and move her eyes / hands whenever discomfort is felt, but best of all, engineers included a "breast sensor" to determine if that area has been touched inappropriately during training. Nothing wrong with ensuring the ethical treatment of robots, we suppose.[Via Physorg]
Ultreo toothbrush uses ultrasound, but can it clean teeth?
Riveting news from the world of dental hygiene: the Ultreo ultrasonic toothbrush has officially launched, promising what sounds like the ultimate brush session -- oh you know, "ultrasound waveguide technology" and "precisely tuned sonic bristle action" and stuff like that. Unlike traditional sonic units that only use audible frequencies of 20Hz to 20,000Hz, Ultreo uses a tuned sonic / ultrasonic (over 20,000Hz) combo to offer more enamel-rattling power without compromising the user's veneers, bridges, or general safety. There's a programmable replacement indicator that prompts a brush head switch-out every 3 months, and the 2-minute auto shut-off timer makes sure you don't cop out too early. For about $149.00, true tooth-o-philes can sink their chompers into this latest addition to the bourgie toothbrush market.[Thanks, Eric B]
Rocket develops "paper battery" for use with RFID, cosmetics
Nearly a year after NEC rolled out its paper-thin ORB batteries, Korean battery manufacturer Rocket is launching (ahem) its own uber-thin battery. While juicy, scientific details aren't readily available, we do know that the "paper battery" won't include any toxic chemicals, is "flexible and thin," and molds together the companies "thin film technologies" with its battery knowledge. The company hopes to entice heavy RFID users, smart card manufacturers, and "cosmetic / drug delivery system" providers to utilize the paper battery in powering the already-miniscule devices. Oddly, Rocket also envisions its new creation being used in "teeth whitening, anti-aging, and wrinkle care," though we're not exactly sure how electrifying a tooth will brighten your smile. Nevertheless, the company hopes to have its newfangled power source attached to crates and body parts real soon, and confidently assures us that it "doesn't cause explosions or fires." Phew. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]
New low-intensity pulsed ultrasound device helps re-grow teeth
We'd gladly trade in most of our gadgets if it meant we never had to go under the drill at the dentist again. But researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada don't want our electronics, they just want a few more years to perfect their low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) technology that they hope will ultimately be able to re-grow lost or severely damaged teeth from the root, eliminating the need for pricey prosthetics and painful procedures. The pea-sized device, which can be held in place by a bracket or a crown, is controlled by a wireless remote and needs to gently massage the gums for 20 minutes a day over the course of four weeks to attain noticeable growth. This tech isn't expected to be available to the public for another two years, so hold off on that all-candy and Red Bull diet you've been planning for just a little longer while you ponder the rather incredible possibility that this method could eventually be used to grow human bones and actually make people taller without subjecting them to any kind of medieval torture.
VELscope uses light to detect oral cancers
We're not too fond of trips to the dentist, for all the obvious reasons (plus the fact that we still can't get the image of Steve Martin as the sadistic tooth-ripper in "Little Shop of Horrors" out of our head). But if more tools like the VELscope come onto the market, we may just start checking in with the DDS more frequently. The device, developed by LED Dental in Vancouver, uses fluorescent light that hones in on tissues that glow when abnormal cells show up. That can give the dentist an edge in fighting cancers early on, before they progress too far. The device isn't on the market yet, but is expected to sell for about $5,000 when it's released. Now if they can just find a way to replace those drills with a similar tool, we're all set.
