My toothbrush streams gyroscope data
blog.johannes-mittendorfer.com
blog.johannes-mittendorfer.com
We had them when I was a kid in the 1970's. I've wanted a way to check the quality of my brushing, and my kids' brushing as well. I totally forgot about these.
/s if it isn't obvious lol
This is the poorman's version of bacterial cultures and BANA tests, which IMHO were great ideas but never took off.
Dyes are good for tooth plaque, which is a different kind of biofilm. You can have good dental hygiene, but bad gum hygiene and vice versa.
Quote from Dr Zoidberg - “why not both?!”
Its operation fundamentally involves (near infinitesimal) movements, but then so does a cell phone pole. I don't see what we gain with debating its "solid stateness" (especially when hedged with "effectively"). Maybe you could point to some effect that this distinction implies?
To me, moving parts generally refers to physically coupled but distinct pieces that move relative to one another. Otherwise heating anything that contained a piece of metal by a few degrees would disqualify it.
More importantly, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_electronics:
”The term "solid state" became popular in the beginning of the semiconductor era in the 1960s to distinguish this new technology based on the transistor, in which the electronic action of devices occurred in a solid state, from previous electronic equipment that used vacuum tubes, in which the electronic action occurred in a gaseous state.”
⇒ the term doesn’t reference the hardware being solid.
Wikipedia:
> The term is also used for devices in which semiconductor electronics which have no moving parts replace devices with moving parts, such as the solid-state relay in which transistor switches are used in place of a moving-arm electromechanical relay, or the solid-state drive (SSD) a type of semiconductor memory used in computers to replace hard disk drives, which store data on a rotating disk.[6]
In short: neither the term definition nor usage is entirely consistent.
(the rest of the channel's videos are good too -- the aluminum can video is great)
This could probably be useful for a fair number of people. With all the changing directions as you move to different spots in your mouth during brushing, it is not that hard to have a section where you miss doing under the gum. If you always brush using the same route around your mouth, you could miss the gums in the same section every time.
My understanding is that the point of these fancy position sensing toothbrushes is to help you avoid doing that.
I certainly would not go out and buy one, though, unless my hygienist told me that I'm missing particular spots and I failed to fix the problem by being more careful during brushing and by using something like this [1].
[1] https://www.amazon.com/GUM-Stimulator-Convenient-Refills-Rep...
Given that things ranging from toothbrushes through shoes to headsets are broadcasting or reflecting radio waves, how many receivers hidden in plants, furniture, and garden gnomes does it nowadays take to construct with entirely passive surveillance a model of the goings-on within an average house or office building? (-:
Of all the pointless internet-of-shit ideas. My toothbrush does not need an app.
A quick message from our sponsors before your mirror sessions starts
For us at Microsoft...it was Tuesday.
Of course, it could also be a replacement mirror, but given that there are tiles drawn next to it and the phone holder is a suction cup on what vaguely looks like it might be a mirror, I doubt the phone is meant to be a mirror. Or am I missing the point here and is the message simply that one should be looking in the mirror rather than their phone while brushing teeth?
Here’s why: You need to look into the phone while brushing because it uses the front camera to do its thing. Pairing bluetooth and opening an app every morning is way way too much work for a 2min task. Screw that
Why do humans use their brains for this?
And we're probably not that far away from Health Insurance Companies using your toothbrush's data to calculate your rates.
Worse, I remember a joke about buying a bottled water. Now they seriously shoot bottled water reviews on youtube and tap water is a health danger.
I can only get replacement heads on Amazon though, I've never seen them in any UK shop.
Here's the thing though: I've been brushing with a high tech brush for years but lately I've been developing an ache under an old crown. I delayed the dentist visit due to Covid but finally got it checked out. High tech CT scan revealed a big bubble of infection and bone loss right between the roots! Now I have to get another root canal or an implant, we'll see. I was super impressed with the imaging technology the dentist/endoguy had, much more useful than a toothbrush with gyro.
The software that runs the scans allows him view them in 3D with full rotation, correct for scanning errors and make adjustments in real-time, and has a library of cadaver teeth which can be used to automate creating a suitable replacement, which can then be modified to suit. It’s really amazing.
Then the milling machine picks its tools and does the carving out of a circular puck of the desired substrate. It’s a closed box and talks to the software over the LAN or USB.
After milling the tooth, he color matches it with powders and color swatches and then cures it in a desktop forge. Really quite amazing technology, and it fits in a couple small rooms in his home lab. He makes good money and employs his wife and another tech. Not bad for being your own boss. He gets orders from local and distant dentists, and he loans out his own scanners, as many dentists still use older or lower resolution units.
Apparently the milling machine costs around $150K, and the software is also pretty pricey. Not sure about the forge, but it’s also expensive. Not really sure how you would get into this field, but many of the skills seem to be something you can learn on the job. No idea about qualifications or licensing requirements, etc.
It's impressive tech and the crown fit better on the first try than my previous crowns that were done the old fashioned way.
The major pain point in his workflow is working with scans from older scanners and their file format quirks. He usually opens those scans in a less-capable but more compatible software, then exports to the format his main software uses, which is made by the vendor of his milling machine. Definitely risks of vendor lock-in, but he is aware of the trade-offs and is always looking for better technology. The pricing of the hardware and software seems pretty steep and maybe ripe for disruption, but for his workflow, he’s still pretty happy with how much he makes for how hard he works.
- take X-rays to diagnose the problem
- take photographs of the existing tooth
- set the machine running to make the crown
- grind away the surface of the old tooth, drill out whatever needs removing as usual
- apply adhesive
- fit new tooth
- adjust tooth slightly to fit by grinding as usual for any filling.
From arriving at the dentist to paying the bill is less than an hour.
Xrays are potentially harmful and exposure to them should be limited to those medically necessary. The system I described does not require “extra“ xrays or any additional xrays at all, thus my characterization of any xrays the person I replied to received as redundant compared to the treatment plan I was describing.
Is that clear? Hard to assume what the person in Norway got from their care but they didn’t get the same thing I described.
Edit: I see now you’re the same person I was replying to; I don’t mean to be pendantic, but the absence of xrays in the workflow I described is kind of a big difference, as what I described uses visual 3D scanning with an orally-inserted imaging device with no need for more xrays if the dentist doesn’t otherwise need them.