Illuminating feedback during teeth cleaning

Abstract

A toothbrush is disclosed. The toothbrush includes a handle, a brush tip coupled to the handle, the brush tip including a plurality of bristles, a motor housed within the handle for operating the brush tip, a power source coupled to the motor, one or more lights coupled to the handle and viewable by a user when holding the handle, and a control module housed within the handle and in communication with the one or more lights, wherein the control module is configured to monitor a pressure exerted by the brush tip on a surface, determine when the exerted pressure exceeds a pressure threshold, and, in response to the exerted pressure exceeding the pressure threshold, activate the one or more lights to alert the user that the exerted pressure exceeds the pressure threshold.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A toothbrush comprising:
 a handle;   a brush tip coupled to the handle, the brush tip including a plurality of bristles;   a motor housed within the handle for operating the brush tip;   a power source coupled to the motor;   one or more lights coupled to the handle and viewable by a user when holding the handle; and   a control module housed within the handle and in communication with the one or more lights, wherein the control module is configured to:
 monitor a pressure exerted by the brush tip on a surface; 
 determine when the exerted pressure exceeds a pressure threshold; and 
 in response to the exerted pressure exceeding the pressure threshold, activate the one or more lights to alert the user that the exerted pressure exceeds the pressure threshold. 
   
     
     
         2 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more lights are one or more light emitting diodes. 
     
     
         3 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure threshold is an absolute pressure magnitude value or a delta pressure value. 
     
     
         4 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the control module determines the pressure exerted by the brush tip by directly measuring force applied to the plurality of bristles. 
     
     
         5 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the control module determines the pressure exerted by the brush tip by indirectly measuring force applied to the plurality of bristles. 
     
     
         6 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the control module detects electrical current drawn by the motor and determines the exerted pressure based on the detected electrical current. 
     
     
         7 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the control module comprises one or more memory components that store the pressure threshold. 
     
     
         8 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure threshold is between about 280 to about 430 g/cm 2 . 
     
     
         9 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure threshold is about 140 g/cm 2 . 
     
     
         10 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more lights provide feedback to a user to reduce pressure exerted by the brush tip. 
     
     
         11 . A method of alerting a user of excessive pressure exerted by a toothbrush during teeth cleaning, comprising:
 determining a pressure exerted by bristles coupled to the toothbrush while the user is brushing teeth;   determining that the exerted pressure is excessive; and   activating a light on a handle of the toothbrush to provide feedback to the user that the pressure is excessive.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the light is a light emitting diode. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining that the exerted pressure is excessive comprises determining that the exerted pressure exceeds a pressure threshold value. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining the pressure exerted by the bristles comprises directly measuring force applied to the bristles. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining the pressure exerted by the bristles comprises indirectly measuring force applied to the bristles. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining the pressure exerted by the bristles comprises detecting current drawn by a motor coupled to the bristles and correlating the detected current to a pressure value. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising retrieving, from memory stored by the toothbrush, the pressure threshold value. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pressure threshold value is between about 280 to about 430 g/cm 2 . 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pressure threshold value is about 140 g/cm 2 . 
     
     
         20 . A toothbrush comprising:
 a handle;   a brush tip including a plurality of bristles releasably coupled thereto;   a motor received within the housing;   a light coupled to the housing; and   a control module positioned within the housing and in electrical communication with the light, wherein the control module is configured to:
 determine a pressure applied by the bristles to a tooth surface; and 
 illuminate the light in response to the pressure being above a desired level.