Dentists have long been on the forefront of prevention efforts, but promoting healthy oral hygiene requires constant education, especially when it comes to caring for baby teeth often thought to be expendable. Baby bottle tooth decay is still a major problem, even in San Francisco where the water is fluoridated. It's very common for parents to put a baby to bed with a bottle all day and all night. While other efforts to develop flashlight toothbrushes have been made, this battery-operated design is relatively inexpensive and illuminates brushes and teeth more efficiently than previous models, says Feldman. Feldman, who patented the product in 1992, gave it to the UCSF Office of Technology Transfer and is trying to promote it.
Kids are really interested in it.
But his calls to major toothbrush manufacturers to market the device have not proven fruitful so far. Still, Feldman refuses to give up. If the University profits from our ingenuity, then we all benefit. All rights reserved. Please direct all comments and questions to the Daybreak Editor .