If you’ve ever wanted more information about what’s going on inside your mouth between dental visits, you’re in luck. Now, there’s an at-home oral-care system designed to give you exactly that.
The oral-care technology company usmile just introduced an at-home AI-assisted toothbrush that lets you learn all the (dirty?) details about your mouth, teeth, and gums. The newly released D Series oral-care system includes the D50 OralCam Toothbrush and the companion D-lite OralCam, which works with a user’s smartphone camera “to support a fuller visual review” of the mouth.
The inside of your own mouth can feel like a bit of a mystery. For starters, it’s wet, dark, and pretty tough to see what’s going on. Unless you’re experiencing discomfort, or dentistry happens to be a hobby, you likely don’t have much information about your dental health until you’re actually sitting in the dentist’s chair.
But the D Series offers more than the kind of visualization you can’t get from opening wide and looking in the mirror. It also provides feedback, tracks hygiene, and alerts users to potential problem areas.
Smart toothbrushes aren’t entirely new. They first appeared on the market in the early 2010s. But the latest technology differs from earlier smart toothbrushes in part because of the D50’s screen, which sits directly on the handle and provides real-time assistance rather than information you pull up later in an app.
“D Series marks a turning point for the oral-care category,” Jason Zhang, product director at usmile, said in the release. “For too long, consumers have assumed their teeth were clean—only to discover more cavities and buildup at their next dental visit.”
“With D50 and D-lite, usmile is building a new visual care system—one that brings prevention into the home, makes daily care more actionable, and creates a clearer bridge between consumers and dental professionals,” Zhang added.
For many patients, routine dental visits happen about every six months. But plenty of people put them off because of fear. That’s part of why experts say having more information about your oral health at home could help prevent problems later.
Ryan Vet, managing member of Speaking Consulting Network, an organization of dentistry speakers and consultants, tells Fast Company that advancements like this one matter given how common fear of the dentist is.
“As at-home technology becomes more advanced, it could be an early indicator of future concern,” Vet says. “Further, some AI-enabled brushes may be able to help a user target problem areas, preventing future decay or concern.”
Still, Vet warns that giving people access at home to information that once required a dental visit could create a “false sense of security,” leaving some with the impression that they can skip an exam as long as everything looks fine.
“We know that oral health is closely tied to one’s overall health,” he says. “An AI-enabled toothbrush may lead a patient to feel they don’t need to visit the dentist.”
“And avoiding a visit could mean that they miss early indicators of other underlying health concerns.”