Solar Titanium Toothbrush

[Charles]

[SIZE="3"]Titanium teams up with the toothbrush for a revolution[/SIZE]



Titanium, the multitalented metal used in everything from jet engines to eyeglass frames, has taken on yet another role as the crucial component of two toothbrushes that aim to shake up the staid world of dental hygiene.

One of the brushes dispenses with toothpaste, instead employing a core of titanium dioxide that generates a plaque-removing electrochemical reaction. The other uses fine, flexible titanium bristles that can last for years. Both are getting favorable, if preliminary, reviews from scientists, dentists and consumer testers.

The tried-and-true manual toothbrush has remained largely unchanged for generations. In the dental field, where professionals rarely agree on anything, the new brushes take some getting used to.

"People think it's hocus-pocus," said Erik Powers of Powers International in Henderson, Nev., who recently started importing the $29.95 no-toothpaste Soladey brush to the United States. The brush was invented in Japan. "If you put this on the shelf next to a 99-cent toothbrush, which would you buy?"

...more...

[Tsuru]

Looks like the Chicago Tribune dropped the ball here or this is some sort of a scam. Titanium dioxide is actually a fine white powder very much like calcium carbonate, which happens to be the main ingredient of toothpaste and what gives it its white color and abrasive properties. The main use of TiO2 is as a pigment in coatings for aircraft and other applications exposed to high intensities of UV light as it doesn't become yellow over time.

And last I heard a "semiconductor" is a type of electronic component of which I'm using several millions right now just to post this message.

The only way light can clean your teeth is when they use very high intensity UV light and a bleaching compound that reacts to UV light. High intensity UV light is known to have sterilizing properties and is also used to purify tap water in some treatment plants in Holland and other parts of the world, but this process does not require titanium as a catalyst.

This leaves the question how the electrons will flow through the polycarbonate insulator that is the disposable brush bit, but I'm a little too drunk to think about that too hard.

Cheerio!

[ttjereth]

Looks like the Chicago Tribune dropped the ball here or this is some sort of a scam. Titanium dioxide is actually a fine white powder very much like calcium carbonate, which happens to be the main ingredient of toothpaste and what gives it its white color and abrasive properties. The main use of TiO2 is as a pigment in coatings for aircraft and other applications exposed to high intensities of UV light as it doesn't become yellow over time.

And last I heard a "semiconductor" is a type of electronic component of which I'm using several millions right now just to post this message.

The only way light can clean your teeth is when they use very high intensity UV light and a bleaching compound that reacts to UV light. High intensity UV light is known to have sterilizing properties and is also used to purify tap water in some treatment plants in Holland and other parts of the world, but this process does not require titanium as a catalyst.

This leaves the question how the electrons will flow through the polycarbonate insulator that is the disposable brush bit, but I'm a little too drunk to think about that too hard.

Cheerio!

A semiconductor is a solid that has electrical conductivity in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor

[Tsuru]

... which can be statically or dynamically controlled, yes thank you.

Now look up Ohm's law.

[Charles]

Integrated Circuit chips are made on wafers of semiconducting material, leading to the misnomer "semiconductors." I haven't heard anyone use the term semiconductors to refer to chips in at least a decade.

Anyway, I just put this story up because it's so full of BS, especially that stupid diagram. I once asked my dentist (he's a professor at the local Dental college) about these sorts of new toothbrushes. He said they did a research project to judge the effectiveness of many types of new toothbrushes. The results: ALL new high-tech toothbrushes are more effective than old ones, but only for about 2 months. His conclusion was that the user is attracted to the novelty of the new technology, so they brush more often, even though the toothbrush is no more effective than any conventional toothbrush they're currently using. Then they get bored after a couple of months, and fall back into old bad habits of only brushing occasionally.
The conclusion of the study: if you want to improve your dental health, don't buy a new fancy high-tech toothbrush, instead, use your regular toothbrush and brush more often.

[ttjereth]

... which can be statically or dynamically controlled, yes thank you.

Now look up Ohm's law.

No need, I don't have any issue with assumption that the brushes won't work, just with the definition of a semiconductor you had there

[james]

and fall back into old bad habits of only brushing occasionally.

occasionally? hopefully i'm not the only person who finds this disgusting. three times a day minimum here..

[Charles]

occasionally? hopefully i'm not the only person who finds this disgusting. three times a day minimum here..

My dentist would have a fit. It is really easy to erode your tooth enamel from too much brushing. I hope at least you use a soft toothbrush. Twice a day is sufficient, once when you get up, and again before you go to sleep.

[Iraira]

My dentist would have a fit. It is really easy to erode your tooth enamel from too much brushing. I hope at least you use a soft toothbrush. Twice a day is sufficient, once when you get up, and again before you go to sleep.

I'll spot you the "before going to bed" and "after waking up" brushings, but there are times when you have to brush mid-day. For example, before you go out on a date or after puking your guts up to the point where you feel you can reasonably talk to chicks in a bar-type atmosphere, but do not want to offend them with your puke breath....damn the enamel, brush the puke funk away.

[Tsuru]

No need, I don't have any issue with assumption that the brushes won't work, just with the definition of a semiconductor you had there

What's wrong with it?

[ttjereth]

What's wrong with it?

a "semiconductor" is a type of electronic component of which I'm using several millions right now just to post this message.

A semiconductor is a solid that has electrical conductivity in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator.

[Tsuru]

That's where you're wrong If you've read the whole wikipedia page you posted before, you would have known a semiconductor device isn't just something that has a slightly higher electrical resistance than a conductor, which would both be denominated in Ohm, or Siemens if you're talking about conductivity (inverted resistance).

A semiconductor device is a transistor or a diode type element in an electronic circuit. They are the elements that make up your computer's processor and are like tiny switches that require an input to switch on to let current flow freely, and switch off and block current when there is no input. In the real world it's a little more complicated than that, but this is basically how a transistor works. A diode is more like a check valve in a piece of plumbing.

[Samurai_Jerk]

occasionally? hopefully i'm not the only person who finds this disgusting. three times a day minimum here..

I've gotta go with Charles on this one. That's not good for your teeth or your gums. I used to brush three times a day, use listerine twice a day, and floss twice a day. I was having problems with my gums. My dentist told me to cut back to flossing once and brushing only after breakfast and before bed. He also told me to cut the listerine all together because it kills the good bacteria too. Within a couple of months my problems were solved.

[Charles]

I've gotta go with Charles on this one. That's not good for your teeth or you gums. I used to brush three times a day, use listerine twice a day, and floss twice a day. I was having problems with my gums. My dentist told me to cut back to flossing once and brushing only after breakfast and before bed. He also told me to cut the listerine all together because it kills the good bacteria too. Within a couple of months my problems were solved.

Yeah, my sister had problems from over-brushing, she actually scrubbed little grooves in her teeth from too much brushing with a too-hard brush, she had to have a couple of teeth capped. So be careful, more brushing is not necessarily better.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Anyway, I just put this story up because it's so full of BS, especially that stupid diagram. I once asked my dentist (he's a professor at the local Dental college) about these sorts of new toothbrushes. He said they did a research project to judge the effectiveness of many types of new toothbrushes. The results: ALL new high-tech toothbrushes are more effective than old ones, but only for about 2 months. His conclusion was that the user is attracted to the novelty of the new technology, so they brush more often, even though the toothbrush is no more effective than any conventional toothbrush they're currently using. Then they get bored after a couple of months, and fall back into old bad habits of only brushing occasionally.
The conclusion of the study: if you want to improve your dental health, don't buy a new fancy high-tech toothbrush, instead, use your regular toothbrush and brush more often.

That reminds me of something my dentist told me about a study of the effectiveness of electric toothbrushes. He said that people who used them overall do get better results than people who use regular tooth brushes. But he said they think it's really because most of electic toothbrushes have a timer and so people spend the right amount of time brushing their teeth. He said those people who spend the same amount of time with a regular toothbrush have outcomes that are just as good as those who use electic toothbrushes.