Manufacturers are coming out with new models and variations at a rate more familiar to the car industry. And new designs are helping fuel consumer interest. In fact, the once-lowly toothbrush is now winning design awards. They've put some serious engineering into it. Attention to dental health, consumer preferences, new production technologies and new materials all play a role, but the real fuel seems to be coming from the dynamics of the marketplace itself.
Innovations are necessary in today's market to compete.
The company claims that the brush's bristles, set in crisscrossing and opposing angles, removes more plaque than the competition. But the competitors also claim benefits to dental health from their products. Aquafresh's Flex toothbrush first entered the U.S. fray in 1991. The handle features a tight S-shaped squiggle at the neck to signify its flexibility. The American Dental Association says that all the brushes given its seal of approval clean effectively and help reduce gingivitis, although it is not clear from short-term studies whether any one brush is significantly better than any other, or even whether better attention to thorough brushing by study participants accounts for the good results rather than the brush itself.