Keep brushing! developing healthy oral hygiene habits in young children with an interactive toothbrush

Cravy Brush is an interactive toothbrush attachment that helps young children (3–8 years old) develop a daily habit of brushing teeth. The attachment displays an interactive game that provides real-time visual and auditory feedback. In addition to feedback, Cravy Brush also provides virtual rewards when children brush properly. Alarm feature calls for children to brush their teeth twice a day at desired times. We collect background data regarding tooth brushing sessions, which can be presented later on to parents. In this paper, design and development of Cravy Brush and lessons learned are presented. As a starting point, we conducted a pilot test with one child for a week's duration. Feedback from both parents and the child revealed that Cravy Brush made the tooth brushing experience more fun and was effective at encouraging the child to brush her teeth regularly for the dentist-recommended two minutes.