The Wake

Illustration by Sarah Morean

Walking into the dental hygiene aisle at Target has become an overwhelming experience. In the U.S., the dental products market is a $7.5 billion a year business and row after row of toothbrushes, all claiming to remove more plaque than the rest, make this extremely clear. Toothbrushes have become so technologified that they not only vibrate and dispense toothpaste, but also play songs, and remind users to change the brush head. However, there is one toothbrush new to the market that does away with all these bells and whistles, including toothpaste.

It’s called the Soladey Ionic Toothbrush and instead of using toothpaste it contains a titanium dioxide core, which in the presence of light, creates an electrochemical reaction in the mouth that breaks up plaque. Titanium dioxide—that miracle compound found in products ranging from sunscreen to tattoo pigment and, interestingly enough, most toothpastes—releases electrons when it comes into contact with light and water. During brushing, these electrons are released into the saliva. The electrons neutralize the acids in plaque, causing it to decompose. Part of the reason that plaque clings to teeth is because plaque has a net positive charge and the surface of teeth is negatively charged; the electrons in the saliva alter the charge of the plaque, reducing the ionic attraction between teeth and plaque.

However, people don’t just brush their teeth to reduce plaque and have a healthy mouth. Oral malodor, the scientific term for bad breath, is estimated to be the third most common reason for seeking dental aid. According to the National Institute of Dental Research, an estimated 65 million Americans suffer from halitosis at some point in their lives. The average mouth is home to billions of bacteria, some of which are the main causes of bad breath. Not only that, bacteria in the mouth can also cause periodontis, a serious gum disease that can lead to tooth loss. Plaque is actually a biofilm made up of bacteria that grow on teeth; the bacterium Streptococcus mutans consumes sugars found in the mouth and produces the acid that causes tooth decay. Research shows that the electrochemical reaction used by the Soladey has a bactericidal effect.

It all sounds grand, but does it really work? The Wake procured a sample of the toothbrush and promptly put it to the test.

Initial observations revealed that one of the primary problems with the toothbrush is that brushing without toothpaste just feels wrong. However, dry brushing is much more effective at removing plaque; one study found that plaque deposits dropped by as much as 67% after a six month regimen of dry brushing.

The toothbrush also has to be cleaned after every use or it will begin to smell and taste bad. This will actually happen to any toothbrush, but the minty freshness of toothpaste usually covers it up. Furthermore, as convenient as not using toothpaste is, when you’re not in the privacy of your own bathroom, opening your mouth wide to let light in—necessary for the reaction to occur—can lead to an embarrassing drooling episode. This problem may be remedied by the next version of the Soladey, currently being developed in Canada, which is powered by a solar panel on the end of the brush.

In most categories, the Soladey performed equally or better than a regular manual toothbrush. Teeth feel noticeably cleaner, and a few weeks of brushing with the Soladey lead to brighter teeth, while a longer period of time using a whitening toothpaste produced no visible change. The Soladey also returned the mouth to a normal, pink state after being stained by a blue raspberry Airhead candy faster and more completely than a manual toothbrush. However, the foam of toothpaste does better at washing away foods like Oreos and Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, which readily stick to the teeth. While the Soladey does not make breath initially as fresh as a manual toothbrush and toothpaste, breath stays fresher and teeth feel cleaner longer. Best of all, while eating immediately after brushing with toothpaste can cause some foods to taste bitter, eating after brushing with the Soladey does not affect the eating experience. Whether the benefits of the Soladey Ionic toothbrush outweigh the costs is still being debated and is largely a matter of personal preference.

“I recommend it for people who have a lot of stuff on their teeth, but we don’t promote it for every patient…they do good enough with just the regular, manual toothbrush,” Brittany Erler, a dental hygienist in Owatonna, MN whose office sells the Soladey said.