Geeky Cat Miusings

Parenting is a difficult endeavor and so parents are trying to keep tabs on their kids with whatever means is available to them: by giving them cell phones to find out where they are, by looking at the browser history log to see what sites the kids visit online, and soon they will be giving them an ultrasonic toothbrush with on-board Wi-Fi to connect to the home network and report on the child’s brushing. Many kids don’t like to brush their teeth so they will skip the whole process or sometimes they will brush only the front teeth so that they will successfully pass any rudimentary inspection. They won’t be able to cheat with this toothbrush because it will report to the caregiver how long the toothbrush is used for, the oscillation frequency, whether the bristles made contact, and any indication of bad breath. Okay… but I can see why they wouldn’t call it an iBrush: because it could be referring to a technology enhanced mascara(eye-brush).

But I would love to see that technology used to help me improve my teeth brushing regime and this is what I think it should be able to do. Perhaps the iBrush could tell me if I have brushed all areas of every tooth with equal pressure and a sufficient amount of time. While the toothbrush is brushing my mouth couldn’t it also be scanning for any problem areas such as cavities or gingivitis and send me a warning e-mail (along with phone number) to contact my dentist and set the task up in my calendar? A good toothbrush could prevent a lot problems by detecting the number of bacteria in the mouth and give a warning signal if the harmful bacteria grow out of control which can lead to periodontitis, a serious gum infection. Could it possibly send out warning signals whenever I go to the candy bowl and eat a couple of sweets? How about making it customizable with several different levels of warning such as discreet beeps for the lowest level of warning, for medium warning level it can play The Candy Man, and for the highest warning level it can emit a screeching sound like the dentist’s drill? Maybe I am on to something here… if the toothbrush is also an mp3 player there is no need for the toilet paper dispenser with iPod Dock. If the iBrush could do all this I would be all set - except for one thing…..any guesses?

I would be ever so grateful if they could make an iBrush for kitties - something that would make them happy to have this thing poking in their mouths because it is ever so hard to brush their teeth.