Technology supporting effective tooth brushing

The latest generation of electric toothbrushes supports users with applications on their smartphones. Based on the image analysis software Shore, developed by Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS as well as its localisation technologies for position recognition, Procter & Gamble is now presenting a new smart toothbrushing system at the Mobile World Congress. By telling users which area of teeth they are currently brushing, this system supports them in their daily dental hygiene as recommended by dentists.  

It’s not just the toothbrush that determines whether dental care is correct and improves dental health. To keep teeth healthy, it’s much more important to brush correctly and pay equal attention to all areas. To support users as effectively as possible, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has been working with scientists from Fraunhofer IIS on the development of a new smart interactive toothbrush Oral-B Genuis. The toothbrush connects via Bluetooth with an app on users’ smartphone, which can be affixed directly to a mirror. Analysis can begin as soon as users begin brushing their teeth.

The integrated Fraunhofer Shore facial detection and analysis technology allows head movement and hand position to be recognised and analysed in real time. This lets users know whether they are brushing too little or too long in one place, or whether they have missed an area. “We are using image based classification to further develop and refine the algorithm of our Shore software library so that it can determine the exact position of the toothbrush,” is how Dr.Jens Garbas, head of the Group for Intelligent Systems explains the technical challenge facing his team. “Shore has to be able to provide reliable results even with poor lighting, frequently changing head positions or rapid hand movements.” The Fraunhofer developers use their Shore software to determine the position of the jaw from images and evaluate the results with a large number of testing sequences.