Development of a force-sensing device for general dental practitioners to evaluate and control brushing force in dental patients

This article describes the development of a clinical instrument to assist dental professionals with oral hygiene instruction. This instrument allows the patient's brushing force to be measured. Digitised force measurements are captured by a miniature microcontroller and transmitted to a personal computer using a 418 MHz radio transmitter. This personal computer provides an online display of the force-time measurements during toothbrushing. The signal trace is then analysed to extract clinically relevant measurements.