P&G’s smart toothbrush keeps tabs on tooth care

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – Procter & Gamble Co is bringing the dentist into the bathroom with the world’s first smartphone-connected toothbrush, a device that gives personalized advice to help people improve their brushing. The toothbrush, to be sold under P&G’s Oral-B brand and which will be widely available from June, has a Bluetooth 4.0 link to a smartphone app that can be programmed with the help of a dentist, for example to pay more attention to any areas of the mouth being neglected, P&G said. “The app provides real-time guidance,” Michael Cohen-Dumani, global associate director for Oral-B, told Reuters. Professionals had helped develop the app as a tool to manage their patients’ behavior between visits, Cohen-Dumani said.