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Evidence has been mounting in recent years of the
correlation between one’s dental health and one’s general
health. Various medical conditions and diseases are affected
by poor periodontal health. Periodontal disease affects 3
out of 4 adults. The bacteria causing dental plaque are
believed to increase the inflammation of the carotid and
coronary arteries increasing the risk of heart attack and
stroke by 2 to 3 times. The key to preventing gum disease is
keeping the mouth clean and healthy with daily brushing and
cleaning between the teeth.
Highly structured and open way of working
One typical example is the development work Philips
Applied Technologies has recently done for Sonicare, North
America. Titled the ‘sonic toothbrush’, Sonicare’s
electronic toothbrushes produce a high-frequency oscillating
action that works like tiny, but powerful waves, dislodging
plaque that isn’t normally reachable by a manual brush. The
Sonicare is a highly effective power toothbrush that has
been clinically proven to significantly remove plaque and
reverse gingivitis. The company is expanding functionality
of the successful toothbrush by having the speed of the
bristles be load independent – in other words independent of
how hard the bristles are pressed against the teeth. The
company elicited the support of Philips Applied
Technologies. Sonicare regarded this as a very good solution
because of Philips Applied Technologies’ highly structured
and open way of working – with regular progress reports to
the customer.
Individual drive characteristics
Together with Sonicare our technologists designed a
solution based around a specially developed algorithm for
individually trimming the drive characteristics of each
toothbrush to meet the new specifications. They also worked
out modifications to the production process to enable the
drive characteristics of each toothbrush on the assembly
line to be measured and trimmed in less than one second.
Tests on prototypes of a new toothbrush demonstrated proof
of concept.
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