I was at a grocery store today and saw an ad for an electric toothbrush by Oral B. Now, most decent sized grocery stores in Toronto have a pharmacy section where they sell toiletries & etc, including a section for toothbrushes; but usually they don’t sell electronic toothbrushes (except for the < $10 ones you get from Colgate). So it was strange that they were advertising an electronic one.
Not only were they not selling the one they were advertising; it was an extra special toothbrush, which I’m guessing they’re trying to push for Christmas. They were advertising an electronic toothbrush that has built-in Bluetooth! I’ve never heard of one with BT and it seems a bit crazy for me that a manufacturer would tech that in. It piqued my interest, not because I wanted one, but because it’s so random.
I looked it up, and apparently it costs almost $250! You might get a cheaper one, or on sale but it’ll still set you back more than $100. Your typical high end, non-bluetooth-enabled power toothbrush seems to be around $50. That’s a big premium to pay for bluetooth.
Now, why would you want BT in a toothbrush? Obviously to measure how you brush your teeth. The toothbrush can measure how long you’re brushing and how much pressure you’re applying – and there’s a companion app to see how you’re trending over a period of time. I’m a big fan of quantified self, but I think this is going a bit too far. It’s not that hard to track this yourself (you can look at a clock to make sure you’re brushing for more than 2 minutes). I think it’s a gimmick and a cash grab hoping that people buy an extra expensive power toothbrush as a Christmas present. Don’t fall into this trap!
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