y brush toothbrush
y brush toothbrush

The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that you brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes. I am not challenging this particular recommendation, but that does seem like a long time. I worry that I am brushing too hard, and 2 minutes will take more enamel off my teeth. Yes, I said more, because it’s missing in some places. But the French company FasTeesH says that you actually only need 10 seconds to properly clean your mouth. That seems like it’s not long enough, but FasTeesH has developed a toothbrush that will do just that. And, good news for those of you who will be at CES this week – you can check it out.

Nicknamed the 10-second toothbrush, the Y-Brush is an invention of efficiency. Instead of moving your toothbrush around your mouth, cleaning each individual tooth, the Y-Brush actually cleans half of your mouth at a time. That said, does the design of this toothbrush, give it the ability to reduce the amount of time that you would need to spend brushing? The toothbrush itself resembles a small mouthguard for sports. The Y-Brush’s tray is lined with nylon bristles that are positioned at 45-degree angles. This is, in fact, what the ADA recommends when it comes to holding a regular toothbrush to your gums. And the Y-Brush comes in four different sized trays, depending on the size of your mouth.

How does it work? There are two pieces to the Y-Brush. The trapezoid shaped motor and the brush tray it self. The motor piece is quite large, and well, it kind of makes the toothbrush look awkward. There are different vibration settings that allow you to not only find the one that’s right for you, but also to give you different options for brushing your teeth. The handle and the teeth tray form the letter “Y”, which is where the name Y-Brush comes from in the first place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqIzgvRqRmU

To use the toothbrush, you had toothpaste to the tray, position the Y-Brush in your mouth and turn the motor on. As the brush vibrates, you make a chewing motion for 5 seconds, and then you remove it, flip it over and brush your remaining teeth.

But let’s talk about adding the toothpaste, shall we? The way that this is designed, you will have to fill the tray with toothpaste, don’t you? Which, I think might be a bit much. Sure, my toothbrush head is small, and yes, I pile that toothpaste on, but that amount of toothpaste is more than enough to brush all of my teeth. But the toothpaste tube lasts me at least a month or more. I guess what I’m saying is that this seems a bit wasteful. Sure, it can reduce the amount of time that you’re spending brushing your teeth, but where is the savings? Sure, you’re saving 4 minutes a day brushing your teeth. Over the course of a year that’s about 24 hours. But how many tubes of toothpaste have you gone through?

The Y-Brush will cost you $125, which is about the same (or close to it) price as another premium electric toothbrush. If you’re at CES, check it out and let us know what you think about it.