Anyone who has seen the toothpaste aisle at a store knows that Americans are obsessed with our pearly whites. A new solar-powered brush designed by Canadian dentistry professors works without paste, using electrons instead. Brushes like this just might make paste a thing of the past.
Kunio Komiyama and Gerry Uswak, dentistry professor emeritus and dean of the University of Saskatchewan College of Dentistry respectively, worked with Japanese manufacturer Shiken to create a prototype for a special toothbrush. The brush, which they're calling the Soladey-J3X, has a small solar panel and titanium dioxide rod embedded inside. As TreeHugger's Jaime Heimbuch explains, when a small amount of light hits the brush, the base transmits electrons to the bristles. Those electrons react with acid inside the mouth, causing plaque to break down. The brush also kills two types of bacteria responsible for periodontal disease.
Currently the dentistry professors are planning to test the brush on 120 teenagers to see how they'll find it compared to a normal brush. Fickle teens sound like the perfect test group, although I wish anyone could try it out. No word on whitening capabilities yet, which I'm sure it will need if these guys want their brush to compete head-on with paste. Wonder what we'll do without minty flavor, too.
Having just payed a pretty penny for toothpaste and a new electric toothbrush -- sadly, they do a better job than I ever could -- I hope that if the Soladey-J3X takes off, they'll consider making a solar-powered rotating version. Going without paste is great, but cutting the cord would truly give me something to smile about.
Photo: No paste needed: the solar-powered Soladey-J3X toothbrush's electrons do all the work. Credit: Cnbeta.com (in Japanese).
Tags: Alternative Power Sources, Gadgets, Green Tech, Health, Renewable Energy,
comments ( )