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Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

“ PATENTS, page A1 Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | January 2013A2 NEWS teeth. But a number of the efforts go far beyond that, such as the dual-pur- posed toothbrush and peak flow meter patented by Dingane Baruti, MD, a phy- sician in Columbus, Ga. Toothbrush helps monitor asthma Baruti’s abstract for the device de- scribes it as a “system for increasing the compliance of peak flow measure- ments in children and adults with asthma.” The patent application for the asth- ma monitoring toothbrush notes that peak-flow readings ideally should be recorded at the same time every day, but children frequently don’t com- ply because the meters are often mis- placed or forgotten. Baruti posits that linking the flow-metering task to a dai- ly tooth-brushing ritual — by attach- ing a toothbrush head to double the meter's purpose — will help increase compliance. The device also would be wireless, automatically relaying the readings to a hospital or doctor’s office. Baruti, a principal with Dingane Innovations, is actively marketing the licensing to insurance companies under the brand name “FlowBrush.” Contacted via email, Baruti wrote, "The FlowBrush is the central feature of the FlowBrush Asthma Surveillance TeleMedicine (FAST) system. I am lead- ing a team of MBA students from the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management, to bring the FlowBrush/FAST system to market." Bristles designed to hold toothpaste Another invention, the dehydrated dentifrice and toothbrush" is de- scribed as having “one or two part- spherical pockets formed in the brush surface. Balls or pellets of matching shape of dehydrated toothpaste are placed in the depressions, the brush is wetted and the pellets turn to a gel, ready for brushing. The pellets may be of various colors and flavors to entice children to brush their teeth and may be dispensed from a storage chamber carried in the tooth brush handle.” The inventor is Joshua D. Atkin, a general dentist in Dayton, Ohio. The "siwak tooth cleaning instru- ment" is depicted in its patent appli- cation as a mechanical concept that “provides a carrying, protecting and application instrument for a siwak stick, to be applied to the user’s teeth Above are concept illustrations from the more than 150 toothbrush-related patents issued in 2012 as revealed by searching the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. On left is the toothbrush and peak flow meter patented by Dingane Baruti, MD, of Dingane Innovations. He is leading a team of MBA students from the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management, to bring the asthma-monitoring device to market. At center is the dehydrated dentifrice and toothbrush, which has concave bristle patterns that receive pellets of toothpaste that are activated by water. At right are toothpaste droplets — premeasured capsules of toothpaste that hold shape until brushing starts. They can even feature a logo or other illustration on the dissolving film-strip-type material that envelopes the toothpaste. Photos/Provided by USPTO for cleaning thereof.” The inventors are Faleh A. Al-Sulaiman and Muham- mad A. Hawwa of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The instrument dispenses circular toothbrush heads based on lipstick- tube-style mechanics from a container that can be incorporated into the han- dle of the siwak (a type of toothbrush used primarily by Muslims). Ad ” PATENTS, page A3