I absolutely love my current Braun electric toothbrush, because it (unlike the first one I had, which basically just spun around) has a timer that reminds me to brush each quadrant of my teeth for 30 seconds. In the past, I never thought about what amount of time was optimal for brushing, let alone monitored how long I actually did so. As a result, I’m confident that I’m really keeping my teeth clean.
smart toothbrush
However, I just don’t get it about why I should transfer that info via Bluetooth to an app. Shouldn’t we be content with the bare minimum of technology that gets us to adopt better health practices, and, where relevant, to transfer that information to our doctors so they can get a better idea of our daily practices and state of health? Maybe I’m nitpicking, but I do think it’s relevant to relay to your doctor potentially highly-variable data such as your daily Fitbit or Jawbone readings (as patients at certain MGH or Brigham & Womens’ practices can now do), but it seems to me that in the case of toothbrushing, it should be enough to simply provide feedback that lets you know you’re brushing enough, and leave it at that.
Thus, the “connected” toothbrush to me seems to violate one of my “Essential Truth” of the IoT, that “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.”
Again, I realize I may be splitting hairs here distinguishing between reporting some health data and not other. What do you think? Let me know!
