Philips has announced a new electric toothbrush called the FlexCare Platinum Connected, which connects to your smartphone.
It's a smart toothbrush that claims to help you make sure you're brushing your teeth as well as you can. The toothbrush, which will be released in July, is one of several smart toothbrushes that have come out or been announced in the past couple of years. Most of them have similar goals. The FlexCare boasts some extra features, as you'd expect given its $200 price tag.
The toothbrush connects to a smartphone app via Bluetooth and uses different sensors to tell you how well you're brushing your teeth, so it's like an electric toothbrush with a built-in guidance system. If that sounds like a lot for a toothbrush, the American Dental Association probably wouldn't disagree.
“Both manual and powered toothbrushes can effectively and thoroughly clean your teeth,” the ADA says on its website. In fact, in its list of recommended toothbrushes, the ADA doesn’t mention any “powered” ones.
The FlexCare looks like most electric toothbrushes. It has interchangeable heads and three different vibration levels. The FlexCare has a position sensor that can determine where in your mouth you're brushing and for how long. The points refer to about 5 to 6 teeth. As you brush, the app lets you know when you've covered an area of your mouth enough. It also senses how much pressure you're applying and how much you're scrubbing, and will alert you if you're overdoing it.
You can also enter specific information about your teeth, such as if you have receding gums in a certain area. In that case, the app will adjust to tell you to use less pressure in that area of your mouth. The app will also ask if you flossed.
The toothbrush aims to promote dental health by giving you points as an incentive to develop good habits, although for now the points can't be used for anything.
Compared to other smart brushes, the FlexCare is the most expensive, except for the $400 PROPHIX toothbrush/camera combo. The closest is Oral-B's SmartSeries, which costs about $100 but doesn't offer the FlexCare's wide array of sensors.
Just because the FlexCare is the toothbrush with the most features available doesn't mean it's the best available or necessary for maintaining good oral health. Also, its price is prohibitive for many people who would prefer a simpler and more economical toothbrush.
