2012-04-10 14:46:10 - UK dentist Ben Underwood has developed a unique app called Brush DJ to make brushing less boring! The free app plays 2 minutes of a song taken at random from the music library stored on the user’s device. This encourages people to brush for and effective length of time whilst rediscovering their music collection.

A recent survey by the British Dental Health Foundation reported nearly 59% of women and 35% regularly skip brushing their teeth at bedtime.

The government latest survey found only 21% of people use dental floss and only 26% use an electric toothbrush. Dental floss use has fallen between 1998 and 2009 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a study in the US reported that the average time spent brushing is considerably shorter than 2 minutes, with the average being about 45 seconds.

With over half of young people aged between 12 and 15 now owning a smartphone or iPod touch, Brush DJ is an ideal tool to help engage them in the task of maintaining their dental health between dental appointments.

Brush

DJ also allows users to set reminders to brush, floss, use a mouthrinse and when they next need to visit their dentist or hygienist. Evidence-based age specific information is given as per the Department of Health’s toolkit 'Delivering Better Oral Health'.

Ben says he was inspired to come up with this idea after watching the BBCs Apprentice where candidates were asked to design and an app. He felt this would be an ideal way to help make people aware of the latest advice to keep their mouths healthy and encourage them to brush for the right length of time to be effective, to help reduce the risk of gum disease, decay and bad breath.

Free updates will be available whenever new oral health information is released.

Ben welcomes feedback on how Brush DJ can be improved and can be contacted via the feedback form on www.brushDJ.com.


References

British Dental Health Foundation Survey 2011 www.dentalhealth.org/news/details/483

Preventive behaviour and risks to oral health - a report from the Adult Dental Health Survey 2009. Published 24 March 2011. The Health and Social Care Information Centre. www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/007_Primary_Care/Dentistry/d ..

Smartphones, apps and young people - Learning 2.0 update. Public Library Services blog 2011. blog.sl.nsw.gov.au/pls/index.cfm/2011/8/29/smartphones-and-young ..

The effect of brushing time and dentifrices on dental plaque removal in vivo. Published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene Summer 2009. www.adha.org/downloads/Gallagher.pdf