Electric Toothbrushes: Balancing Personal Care and Environmental Impact
An electric toothbrush is a battery-powered device that uses rapid bristle motions either back-and-forth or rotating-oscillating to clean teeth effectively. The bristle movements are driven by a motor for sonic speeds or by a piezoelectric crystal for ultrasonic motions. These brushes are typically rechargeable, using inductive charging while resting on a charging base. Electric toothbrushes are categorized by their movement frequency: power brushes operate below the audible range, sonic brushes within the audible range (20–20,000 Hz), and ultrasonic brushes above the audible range, with up to 2,400,000 movements per minute. History The first electric toothbrush, the Motodent, was created by Tomlinson Moseley in 1937. In 1954, Dr. Philippe Guy Woog invented the Broxodent in Switzerland, designed for patients with limited motor skills and orthodontic needs, which entered the U.S. market in 1960 through E.R. Squibb and Sons. In the early 1960s, General Electric introduced a cordless, re...