A system and method for operating a household cleaning appliance, including: providing a household cleaning appliance including, a powered and electronically controlled cleaning implement, and at least one physical sensor taken from a group consisting of: an orientation sensor, an acceleration sensor, an inertial sensor, a global positioning sensor, a pressure sensor, a load sensor, audio sensor, humidity sensor, and a temperature sensor; providing a camera associated with the household cleaning appliance; deriving an augmented classification using one or more classifiers classifying the physical sensor data and the image data; and modifying operation of the cleaning implement based upon the augmented classification.

A method for promoting compliance with an oral hygiene regimen includes displaying, on a display device, a representation of at least a portion of a set of teeth of a user. The method also includes overlaying an indicium on the representation such that the indicium is associated with a first section of the representation. Responsive to a determination, via at least one of one or more processors, that a head of an oral hygiene device is positioned directly adjacent to a first section of the set of teeth that corresponds to the first section of the representation for at least a predetermined amount of time, the indicium is removed from the display device.

A system for checking a correct oral hygiene procedure characterised by comprising: a video camera for acquiring the images of the face of a person brushing their teeth with a toothbrush comprising a marker; processing means for analysing said images and for locating the salient points of said face of a person; processing means for analysing said images and for locating said toothbrush; processing means for following the movements of said salient points and for following the movements of said toothbrush; processing means for calculating the movement between said face and said toothbrush and for checking that said relative movement between said face and said toothbrush corresponds with a relative pre-set movement; where said marker is divided into a plurality of areas; and where each of said plurality of areas is coloured, with a colour chosen from a predefined number of colours, to maximise the colour contrast between said areas.

An in vitro method for demonstrating the stain removal efficacy of an oral care composition comprising (a) providing a substrate, (b) providing a staining solution, (c) providing a treatment solution comprising the oral care composition, (d) immersing the substrate in the staining solution, (e) removing the substrate from the staining solution, (f) evaluating the color of the stained substrate, (g) applying the treatment solution to the substrate and (h) evaluating the color of the treated substrate, wherein the staining solution comprises coffee is provided.

A system and method of use to train a user the correct use of a toothbrush are provided. A typical user may be a child, and correct use may include not biting the toothbrush. Accordingly the system includes a toothbrush capable of detecting when it is bitten. This may be achieved by including a sensor capable of detecting pressure applied to a head and/or a brush assembly of the toothbrush from two opposing directions at the same time. The user may initially be provided with training material that encourages the user to associate correct use of the toothbrush with a (pleasurable) sound. When the user brushes his or her teeth without biting the toothbrush, the sound associated with correct use is provided by an audio device. If the user bites the toothbrush, the sound is switched off until the bite is released and normal brushing recommences.

Systems, methods, and devices for providing feedback to an individual based on brushing performance, and providing guidance for the individual's brushing, are provided herein. In one exemplary embodiment, after an oral hygiene device is orientated, a determination is made as to a segment within the individual's mouth that a brush head of the oral hygiene device is located. Upon this determination being made, a sub-segment within the individual's mouth where the brush head is located is also determined. A brushing performance within the sub-segment is calculated and displayed to the user. A level of compliance for the particular segment is determined based on the brushing performance of the various sub-segments within the particular segment. If the level of compliance exceeds a pre-set compliance level for that segment, the individual is guided to a different segment within their mouth for brushing.

A hygiene doll apparatus and system for practicing hygiene and the related methods for training or practicing hygiene on a doll apparatus. The doll apparatus comprises a microprocessor and memory, along with multiple sensors, and may comprise audio and/or video capabilities for instructing the user and tracking the use of the doll apparatus for the practice of, or training for, hygiene techniques, mostly for young children or those with mental or physical handicaps, i.e., students.

In one embodiment, the invention can be an oral care system that includes a toothbrush; a programmable processor configured to receive oral characteristic data indicative of an oral characteristic of a user; and determine for the user, based at least in part on the oral characteristic data, at least one of a suggested brushing routine and a brushing evaluation for a brushing session.

The present invention addresses the problem of enabling a physician to efficiently guide a patient to an examination and enabling the patient to efficiently perform self-care. An oral health age management section 107 manages dental health of a patient U according to an oral health age of the patient U indicated by a physician D, assuming a dental examination of the patient U by the physician D. An oral health score management section 108 manages the dental health of the patient U according to an oral health score given to the patient U according to the self-care practiced by the patient U. A guidance section 109 performs guidance for the patient U to receive an examination according to the oral health score given to the patient U. Therefore, the above problem is solved.

A personal care product (e.g., an electric toothbrush) may include a treating portion (e.g., cleaning elements) configured to clean one or more teeth of a user of the personal care product. The personal care product may include a handle used for gripping the personal care product. A communication interface may be configured to receive signals from one or more digital devices. The received signals may include a user profile. The user profile may include an identity (e.g., identity of the user profile) and/or instructions for operating the personal care product. A processor may be configured to receive the user profile from the communication interface. The processor may be configured to cause the personal care product to perform operations according to the instructions of the user profile.