Package

The Grush toothbrush came in a nice, well-designed box.  I like that the box has visually engaging pictures and lists all the functions about the toothbrush.  It’s helpful that the package came with two extra brushing bristles. The instructions were clear and concise.

Design

The design of the toothbrush is cute, something that a child would love. The battery is stored on the bottom end of the toothbrush and easy to take out. I did notice that after some use, the battery storage cap could loosen and water could seep in, which could damage the battery or motor.

The twist mechanism of the bristle head makes it easy to replace the bristle head when needed.

I like the vibration motion of toothbrush. It helps clean more plaque off of my teeth than a regular toothbrush. It’s certainly a lot less effort.

As for the automatic sleep and wake function, I thought that it was very helpful for kids in case they forget to turn it off. That saves battery life.

Hardware

Turning on the toothbrush was interesting. When I tried to turn it on holding the toothbrush vertically, it wouldn’t turn on. It wasn’t a battery issue.  It turns out that you have to hold the toothbrush horizontally for the power to come on. It’s somewhat strange. The instruction manual should at least state that to minimize frustration for parents and kids.

Grush toothbrush requires one AAA Alkaline battery to operate. The manual suggests that it should last about three months.

As you can imagine, an electronic toothbrush needs to be waterproof.  I like the waterproof design of the battery cover.

Now let’s talk about the minimum device requirement.  The Grush smartphone or tablet app requires Android 4.3 or higher, iPhone 4s and above or iPad Air/Mini.

Mobile App

The Grush app can be found on Google Play or iOS app store under Grush Toothie Castles. The app has fun and cool music that kids would like.  It’s helpful that the app has verbal and written instructions.

One issue that I noticed is that you have to hold the toothbrush exactly on the two front teeth first before brushing so that the system doesn’t give out inaccurate readings.

It’s great that Grush has tracking and historical tracking.  There’s even another app for parental tracking.

One suggestion is that it would be great if there were more games to choose from. Kids might get bored brushing to the same game over and over again.

Price

The price ranges from $50 to $60. That’s a lot for a toothbrush. While I think the toothbrush is valuable, if the price was lower, more people would want to buy it.  Most people if given the choice would opt for the cheaper option.

[Scott: The relatively high price point is a deterrence for parents. However a modification to the pricing model to reflect H/W + SaaS, positioning the product as a dental hygiene compliance for kids would be welcomed by parents and dentists. For instance, let’s say that selling the toothbrush unit at $25 per unit sufficiently covers the BOM material costs with a reasonable profit margin. The SaaS component comes in the form of premium functionality on the app with emphasis on dental hygiene compliance reporting for parents and dentists, enhanced from its current state. Instead of the parental visual inspection “open your mouth, let’s see if you cleaned your teeth well”, parents can track the cumulative number of rotations and minutes spent per teeth and then compare it to benchmarks. Moreover, parents and dentists can receive reports-on-demand or notification of certain teeth not receiving sufficient brushing that could increase the probability of cavity or gum disease. For illustration purposes, selling a unit at $25 and then a $5 per month subscription model would result in $85 per year, which would result in higher revenue per user than the current H/W one-time purchase model. The H/W + SaaS model would lower the adoption hurdle while providing a recurring cashflow model.]

Pros

I like the idea and technology behind the Grush toothbrush.  It’s a great concept.  I like that the box includes a battery.  It’s waterproof. The product comes with two extra brush heads.  It’s a complete package with the toothbrush, the brushing app, tracking service, and a free parental app.

Cons

The cons are that if kids don’t seal the battery cap properly water might seep into the battery chamber, increasing the risk of fire or electrocution.

If there is only one game for children, they would get bored easily and stop using the product. The parents would be frustrated that they wasted their money.

The toothbrush should only turn on when the button is pushed. Currently, it’s too sensitive and easy to turn on. I think it should have a function to manually turn off the toothbrush.

Overall

The app should have an option to speak, play music or mute so that it doesn’t become too annoying too fast.

The app’s accuracy has some issues. Generally, it gets it right but it’s easy to get wrong readings. For instance, kids can pretend to brush their teeth but not actually have the toothbrush inside their mouth.

In summary, I think that the Grush toothbrush is a fantastic new product.  It is an amazing smart toothbrush that is full of tech and great features.