Reinvented toothbrush crushes Kickstarter crowdfunding goal

In 1498, the bristle toothbrush was invented by the Chinese. Back then, the bristles were hog’s hair and the handles bone or bamboo. It took another 440 years for nylon to be introduced and the toothbrush as we know it to be born.

Fast forward another 79 years, and European company Amabrush wants to change the way you clean your teeth yet again.

Over on Kickstarter, the company is boasting a denture-like device that cleans your teeth in ten seconds — and it’s already pulled in €173 514 (R2.6-million) — triple its goal — with 29 days still to go.

So how does it work?

According to the campaign page, the bristles are powered by a magnetic hand device that vibrates the mouthpiece, brushing your teeth. The device comes with toothpaste capsules that are inserted into the mouthpiece and released when in use.

The toothpaste is ostensibly made by a “major toothpaste manufacturer” and FDA approved.

With traditional brushing, a person is meant to brush every reachable surface of every tooth for 1.25 seconds — resulting in the two minutes you’ve heard from dentists since birth. With the Amabrush, all surfaces are cleaned simultaneously. This means that by leaving it in for ten seconds, it’s cleaning each surface eight times longer.

But don’t get too excited: many comments on the page are calling for proof of effectiveness, which has not yet been provided.

“Posting a [simple test using plaque disclosing solution] that takes no longer than 5 minutes to conduct will surely make me believe your product cleans my teeth effectively,” one user wrote. “Until you do that, I remain skeptical.”

As of writing, a minimum €79 (R1201) pledge will get you the basic Amabrush. Replacements will set you back €6 (R91) for the mouthpiece (changed every three to six months) and €3 (R45) for the toothpaste (every month).

The prices post-Kickstarter have not yet been provided.