What does your oral hygiene routine look like? Has it changed much since you were a child? Maybe you were taught to sing the ABCs twice while you brush, or perhaps you set a two-minute timer. No matter what, the oral-care habits we built as kids often follow us into adulthood.
Despite how advancements in technology have improved our day-to-day routines, most of us still seem to be stuck with a standard toothbrush, relying on muscle memory to scrub away plaque and food debris at the end of each day while hoping we didn’t miss a spot that could show up as a cavity at the next dentist appointment.
Tech improvements to oral hygiene — including optical imaging, motion tracking, and on-device guidance for visualizing plaque and hard-to-see areas — can help eliminate the guesswork in your routine and improve cleaning outcomes in the privacy of your own home.
Improving visibility with technology for better oral hygiene
Let’s be frank: Sometimes our morning routine sees some sacrifices because we hit the snooze button one too many times. To help shave off precious minutes, you might hop in the shower with a toothbrush in tow. But low visibility could make you miss tartar and buildup that can have lasting negative effects on your teeth over time.
Even when you're brushing in front of a mirror, it can be difficult to see small areas like the back of your teeth, the tiny gaps between them, or your gumline. Instead of leaving the cleanliness of these hard-to-see spots up to chance, you can use an optical accessory with the smartphone that you already use daily to improve visibility and cleanliness.
One example is the D-lite smartphone optical accessory from usmile, a coated convex lens that transforms your smartphone’s front-facing camera into a close-range viewing system further enhanced by integrated violet light. Installation is simple; a suction cup attaches the D-lite accessory to the front of the phone while a J-shaped side profile hooks around the edge to help maintain the lens’s position. Meanwhile, the violet light helps improve visibility of plaque-related fluorescence beyond what you would see in the bathroom mirror.
Optical accessories like the usmile D-lite have the benefit of working with technology you already own. There is no need to replace your favorite brand of toothbrush or purchase expensive ultraviolet lighting equipment; instead, you can use it with your smartphone and simply hold it upside down to see the display and frame and review photos. The D-lite also features a companion interface guide, making it easy to organize your photos and to visualize the progression of your hygiene routine over multiple sessions.
While the D-lite works in addition to your existing routine, there is technology out there that completely changes what we can expect from our toothbrush and its role in daily oral care. The D50 OralCam Toothbrush from usmile is outfitted with six 405 nm violet LEDs and a close-focus camera, allowing you to light up plaque and capture extremely close-up images of tooth surfaces.
Rather than attempting to hold a smartphone up to your mouth for oral imaging, the D50 OralCam lets you carry out your oral routine without extra steps or devices. Designed for users age 13 and up, the D50 packs a lot of tech into a small, portable device. The on-board 300K OralCam captures video of your toothbrushing routine at 25 frames per second, providing close-up views of areas that you might not actually be able to see in your bathroom mirror.
The handle of the D50 OralCam continues with additional tech enhancements, with a 142 x 428 display, which presents scan guidance and feedback directly on the toothbrush with bold graphics and enlarged type that is easy to read and understand. The tech built into the D50 OralCam is capable of 0.5 TOPS of on-device processing, making the most of the images captured with the camera and allowing you to analyze them directly on the toothbrush. Your images stay on the toothbrush, avoiding cloud processing and offering an extra layer of privacy.
The D50 OralCam toothbrush’s slim, elongated head can easily reach back teeth and other hard-to-reach spots, while a flexible three-zone elastomer plate follows the contours of your mouth and is designed with motion tracking to recognize when you’re returning to problem areas. The system has been trained on 2.18 million tooth images, including a wide variety of real-teeth that have had common restorations. This training helps the D50 OralCam system to recognize potential problems and recommend brushing routines that can improve your overall dental care routine.
Comfort and usability are hallmarks of the D50 OralCam design, because improved visibility and routine tracking don’t get you very far if using the toothbrush is uncomfortable. Thankfully, the soft wrapping of the D50 OralCam’s brush helps to cushion its movement in your mouth, and the end-rounded bristles are nice and soft while also helping to reduce the harsh feeling some users experience with sonic vibrations.
And for those of us brushing away during those rushed morning showers? The D50 is designed to function even in wet environments, with seam-reducing buttons and soft seals paired with internal drainage channels to limit water and residue buildup. The entire system is IPX8 waterproof, mold-resistant, and built with an antibacterial design, making it safe to store in wet bathrooms and, yes, you can use it in the shower.
Oral technology you’ll want to use daily
Your oral cleaning routine shouldn’t hinge upon guesswork. Brushing, flossing, and general oral care take time and are a commitment to good health. You shouldn’t find yourself wanting to skip making the effort because the process is complicated or otherwise uncomfortable. Technology can help, but only if it feels satisfactory to use. Usmile has put in the work to ensure that tools like the D50 OralCam toothbrush and D-lite accessory elevate your oral care routine by helping you to visualize and act on preventative oral care.
In addition to designing comfortable, easy-to-use technology, usmile ensures that image processing and storage take place on your devices, keeping your photos private and local unless you choose to transfer records to the companion app via Bluetooth.
It’s time to bring our daily oral hygiene routines into the 21st century and let technology close the loop on in-home preventative care with optical imaging that is secure, safe, and comfortable for everyday use.