Ultreo - The Ultrasound Toothbrush

May 9, 2007

Ultreo - The Ultrasound Toothbrush

Ultreo - The Ultrasound Toothbrush (Image courtesy Ultreo)
By Andrew Liszewski

While the toothbrush section at your local pharmacy has become pretty high-tech in recent years there’s probably nothing that can compare to the new Ultreo. It’s the first consumer grade ultrasonic toothbrush and it was developed by researchers at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab. In other words by people who know what they’re doing.

Ultrasound is already used in professional dental cleaning equipment because it’s the right frequency to vibrate bubbles. As they vibrate at more than 20,000 times a second they move the surrounding fluids and produce thin layers of water that clean off plaque. But getting this to work in a handheld device that was also affordable was the real innovation. The head of the Ultreo includes an ultrasound transducer and a special ‘waveguide’ that directs the ultrasound energy into the bristles and bubbles. Without it the ultrasound energy would simply dissipate and be useless.

Besides its cleaning prowess the Ultreo doesn’t disappoint when it comes to other features either. It has an auto shut-off timer that will turn the brush off after the “dental professional-recommended 2 minutes of brushing time” and also has a 30 second interval signal to help you clean all the areas of your mouth equally. It uses replaceable brush heads and has a replacement indicator letting you know when it’s time for a new one. It can even keep track of the brush heads for 2 separate users if you’re not a fan of sharing your brush.

The best part in my opinion is that the Ultreo is available for only $149 on the company’s website. I know plenty of people will think that’s outrageously expensive for a toothbrush but when compared to other high-end models on the market it’s quite reasonable given what it’s capable of.

[ Ultreo Ultrasound Toothbrush ] VIA [ Medgadget ]

Health, Innovation, Medical

Originally by Andrew Liszewski from OhGizmo! on May 9, 2007, 1:55am

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