Wacky World of Rubber: Remaking the toothbrush
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I, notoriously, have no sense of time. That's a good thing for my 4-year-old son who has a general aversion to sleep. He can easily turn "just five more minutes" into 90 because I'll inevitably get caught up doing something.
It's also how I manage to stay up into the early morning hours reading. "It's not even 11," I think just about every night, "I have plenty of time to read." Before I know it, it's nearly 2 a.m. and I'm just finding the strength to put a bookmark between the pages. (One more chapter won't hurt, right? How long could it take?)
That said, I can only imagine how I'd use an additional 66 days of life. That's how much time I'm told I'd get back if I started using Amabrush, a new toothbrush that is backed by claims to slash tooth brushing time from 2-plus minutes down to just 10 seconds.
Instead of using a traditional brush head, the Amabrush is designed like a mouthguard with soft, silicone bristles that vibrate back and forth. It's like a small, plaque-fighting sea anemone that cleans every bit of your tooth enamel and gumline at the same time.
Because the bristles are made of silicone, Amabrush said in a news release, the brush gently rubs teeth clean. Nylon bristles used in traditional toothbrushes, the firm said, scratch at teeth and gums and may cause damage.
The Amabrush brush head magnetically connects to the device handle, which also has space for a specially-designed toothpaste cartridge that automatically dispenses the toothpaste once the power is switched on. According to the Amabrush website, the toothpaste is available in three varieties: extra fresh, sensitive and whitening.
When switched on, the Amabrush handle creates a variety of vibrations at an amplitude of 9.5G, according to the company.
The entire tooth-brushing process takes just 10 seconds, and the brush easily can be rinsed clean before being replaced in a storage container, which uses UV light to help kill germs and bacteria.
It also works with braces and dentures.
In a March video interview with Dental Economics, Marvin Musialek, Amabrush founder and CEO, notes that spending two to three minutes a day brushing with a traditional brush won't get your teeth as clean as brushing for 10 seconds with the Amabrush.
"Because all teeth and all surfaces are cleaned simultaneously, you brush every surface for 10 seconds," he said of his invention. With traditional toothbrushes, each surface is cleaned for only a couple of seconds during a two-minute brushing sessions.
Originally launched in July 2017 as part of a crowd-funding campaign on kickstarter, Amabrush should be available soon to those who have pre-ordered it, according to Musialek. It will be sold throughout Europe and most of North America.
The Amabrush website notes that delivery for pre-order purchases will begin on Sept. 25.
The video interview with Dental Economics has comments from two people who have purchased the toothbrush. As of June and July, they said, they have not received the product. Other YouTube users replying to their comments urged patience, saying that crowd-funded projects often take time to get from a prototype phase to the consumer.
Several starter sets, available at introductory prices that range from $129 to $179, are offered at amabrush.com. Extra toothpaste pods are $9 for a pack of three. Additional mouthpieces, sanitizing stations and travel cases also are available.
Erin Pustay Beaven is the online content editor for Rubber & Plastics News. She is an appreciator of life's littlest treasures, a reader of great books and supporter of the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Indians. Erin is an advocate for libraries, arts education and PBS. Follow her on Twitter at @EBeavenCrain.
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