Patent Description:
Exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure are directed to oral care evaluation systems and methods which are used to evaluate the amount of bacteria present on oral tissue such as the tongue. In one embodiment, the system illuminates oral tissue within the oral cavity using a wavelength which induces fluorescence in an organic compound and detects and analyzes the light resulting from the fluorescence in order to evaluate oral hygiene associated with the oral tissue.

In one aspect, the disclosure refers to an oral care evaluation system including: a light source configured to emit a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, the light source illuminating soft oral tissue within an oral cavity; an image sensor receiving light generated by fluorescence of the organic compound on the soft oral tissue, the image sensor generating image data for an image of the soft oral tissue, the image including a plurality of pixels; and an image processor receiving the image data from the image sensor and programmed to evaluate oral hygiene of the soft oral tissue by assessing an attribute of each pixel in the image.

In another aspect, the disclosure refers to an oral care evaluation process including:
illuminating soft oral tissue within an oral cavity with a light source emitting a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound; generating image data for an image of the soft oral tissue while illuminating the soft oral tissue, the image including a plurality of pixels; and evaluating oral hygiene using a programmable processor programmed to assess an attribute of each pixel of the image.

In still another aspect, the disclosure refers to an oral care evaluation system including: an imaging subsystem including: a light source configured to emit a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound and to illuminate oral tissue within an oral cavity; and an image sensor positioned to receive light generated by fluorescence of the organic compound on the oral tissue and configured to generate image data for an image of the oral tissue, the image including a plurality of pixels; and an image processing subsystem configured to receive the image data from the image sensor and programmed to evaluate oral hygiene of the oral tissue by performing an assessment of an attribute of each pixel of the image, the assessment including: assigning one of a plurality of intensity values to each pixel; and counting a number of pixels associated with each of the plurality of intensity values.

In yet another aspect, the disclosure refers to an oral care evaluation system including: a light source configured to emit a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, the light source illuminating soft oral tissue within an oral cavity and the organic compound having a fluorescence spectrum; an image sensor receiving light in the fluorescence spectrum generated by fluorescence of the organic compound on the soft oral tissue, the image sensor generating image data for an image of the soft oral tissue, the image including a plurality of pixels; and an image processor receiving the image data from the image sensor and programmed to evaluate oral hygiene of the soft oral tissue by quantitative analysis to assess attributes of light in the fluorescence spectrum present in the image data.

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the following figures:.

Relative terms such as "lower," "upper," "horizontal," "vertical," "above," "below," "up," "down," "left," "right," "top" and "bottom" as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., "horizontally," "downwardly," "upwardly," etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. Moreover, the features and benefits of the invention are illustrated by reference to the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, the invention expressly should not be limited to such preferred embodiments illustrating some possible non-limiting combinations of features that may exist alone or in other combinations of features; the scope of the invention being defined by the claims appended hereto.

Features of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof. The programmable processes described herein are not limited to any particular embodiment, and may be implemented in an operating system, application program, foreground or background processes, driver, or any combination thereof The computer programmable processes may be executed on a single processor or on or across multiple processors.

Processors described herein may be any central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, micro-controller, computational, or programmable device or circuit configured for executing computer program instructions (e.g. code). Various processors may be embodied in computer and/or server hardware and/or computing device of any suitable type (e.g. desktop, laptop, notebook, tablet, cellular phone, smart phone, PDA, etc.) and may include all the usual ancillary components necessary to form a functional data processing device including without limitation a bus, software and data storage such as volatile and non-volatile memory, input/output devices, a display screen, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), removable data storage, and wired and/or wireless communication interface devices including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LAN, etc..

Computer-executable instructions or programs (e.g. software or code) and data described herein may be programmed into and tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium that is accessible to and retrievable by a respective processor as described herein which configures and directs the processor to perform the desired functions and processes by executing the instructions encoded in the medium. A device embodying a programmable processor configured to such non-transitory computer-executable instructions or programs is referred to hereinafter as a "programmable device", or just a "device" for short, and multiple programmable devices in mutual communication is referred to as a "programmable system". It should be noted that non-transitory "computer-readable medium" as described herein may include, without limitation, any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory including random access memory (RAM) and various types thereof, read-only memory (ROM) and various types thereof, USB flash memory, and magnetic or optical data storage devices (e.g. internal/external hard disks, floppy discs, magnetic tape CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, optical disk, ZIP™ drive, Blu-ray disk, and others), which may be written to and/or read by a processor operably connected to the medium.

In certain embodiments, the present invention may be embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses such as processor-based data processing and communication systems or computer systems for practicing those processes. The present invention may also be embodied in the form of software or computer program code embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which when loaded into and executed by the data processing and communications systems or computer systems, the computer program code segments configure the processor to create specific logic circuits configured for implementing the processes.

Turning in detail to the drawings, <FIG> illustrates an oral care evaluation system <NUM> in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The oral care evaluation system <NUM> includes a light source <NUM> configured to emit a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound. The light source <NUM> may be any type of light source which is capable of emitting light in the desired spectrum, such as an LED or an incandescent light bulb. Other types of light sources may also be used, with the light source not limiting the scope of the invention unless otherwise expressly stated in the claims. The emission spectrum of the light source <NUM> is selected based upon the absorption spectrum of the targeted organic compound. In certain embodiments, the light source <NUM> may also include a light filter which limits the emission of light from the light source <NUM> to the desired emission spectrum.

In certain embodiments, the targeted organic compound is a porphyrin compound. In certain other embodiments, other fluorescing organic compounds may be targeted. Previous research has shown that many of the malodorous bacteria on oral tissue within the oral cavity, such as on the tongue, contain porphyrin compounds. Whereas the prior art uses subjective observations of fluorescence from porphyrin compounds in order to evaluate the hygiene of oral tissue, such as the tongue, the objective measures of fluorescence described herein provide better and more consistent evaluation results. To this end, the oral care evaluation system <NUM> is able to objectively evaluate the amount of the porphyrin compounds on oral tissues. And, because the porphyrin compounds are contained by bacteria, the objective evaluation of the porphyrin compounds may in turn be used as an objective evaluation of the amount of bacteria present on the oral tissue.

Porphyrin compounds are known to have an absorption spectrum with several absorption bands, with one band commonly referred to as the Soret band, and one or more other bands commonly referred to as the Q bands. The Soret band is used by the oral care evaluation system <NUM> to evaluate the amount of bacteria present on the tongue. The absorption spectrum of the Soret band is centered at a wavelength of about <NUM> and ranges in wavelength from about <NUM> to <NUM>. Thus, the light source <NUM> is selected and/or configured to emit a spectrum of light having wavelengths of between <NUM> to <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the light source <NUM> may emit a narrower spectrum, so long as the emitted spectrum still has an effective overlap with the absorption spectrum of the organic compound. In still other embodiments, the spectrum of light emitted from the light source <NUM> may include wavelengths less than <NUM>, and/or it may include wavelengths over <NUM>. In certain other embodiments, a VELscope® Vx device, manufactured by LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. of Atlanta, GA, may be used as the light source <NUM>. The VELscope® Vx device is commonly used to detect soft tissue abnormalities, and it emits light in the spectral range of about <NUM> to <NUM>.

Porphyrin compounds are also known to have a fluorescence spectrum ranging in wavelength from about <NUM> to about <NUM>. The image sensor <NUM> is therefore positioned and configured to detect light in this spectral range. As should be appreciated, oral tissue with more bacteria generates more fluorescent light in this spectral range. In certain other embodiments in which other organic compounds are induced to fluoresce, the image sensor <NUM> is configured to detect light in the fluorescence spectrum of the targeted organic compound.

The image sensor <NUM> generates image data for an image of the oral tissue while the oral tissue is being illuminated by light emitted from the light source <NUM>, i.e., while the organic compound is fluorescing. A light filter <NUM> is included as part of the oral care evaluation system <NUM> to filter light incident on the image sensor <NUM>, with the purpose being to limit the incident light to the fluorescence spectrum of the porphyrin compound. In certain embodiments, the light filter <NUM> may be omitted where the image sensor <NUM> has limited or no sensitivity to light outside of the fluorescence spectrum of the organic compound. In other embodiments, the image sensor <NUM> may be a broad spectrum image sensor, with data relating to the fluorescence spectrum of the organic compound being determined and analyzed through subsequent image processing.

In certain embodiments, the image sensor <NUM> may be a charge-coupled device (CCD). In certain other embodiments, the image sensor <NUM> may be a digital camera (which itself may include a CCD). In such embodiments, the flash of the digital camera may be configured to serve as the light source <NUM> for the oral care evaluation system <NUM>. Other types of image sensors may also be used, with the image sensor not limiting the scope of the invention unless otherwise expressly stated in the claims.

The image processor <NUM> is a programmable processor which is communicably coupled to the image sensor <NUM> so that the image data for the image of the oral tissue may be transmitted from the image sensor <NUM> and received by the image processor <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the image sensor <NUM> and the image processor <NUM> may be communicably coupled through a wired connection. The communication connection between the image sensor <NUM> and the image processor <NUM> allows the image sensor <NUM> to send image data to the image processor <NUM>, and it allows the image processor <NUM> to send command signals to control operation of the image sensor <NUM>. In alternative embodiments, the image processor <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM> may communicate using a wireless connection. In such embodiments, the wireless connection may use any type of appropriate wireless protocol for communications, such as, for example, Bluetooth®, WiFi, cellular, and the like.

The image processor <NUM> is also communicably coupled to a control module <NUM> and to the light source <NUM>. Through the communication connection between the image processor <NUM> and the light source <NUM>, the image processor is able to control operation of the light source <NUM>, such as for turning the light source <NUM> on and off. The control module <NUM> serves as a user interface for the system <NUM>, allowing the user to turn the light source <NUM> on and off, to control when the image sensor <NUM> is operational to generate image data for the oral tissue, and to otherwise interact with the image processor <NUM>. The control module <NUM> may take any different form, such as one or more buttons or switches, a keypad or keyboard, or even a touch screen. Other types of control modules may also be used, with the control module not limiting the scope of the invention unless otherwise expressly stated in the claims. In certain embodiments, the control module may also provide feedback to the user about the oral hygiene evaluation being performed.

The image processor <NUM> is also communicably coupled to a display <NUM>, through which the image processor <NUM> is able to display an image of the oral tissue and/or results of the oral hygiene evaluation. In certain embodiments, the results of the oral hygiene evaluation may be a hygiene grade. The communication connections between the image processor <NUM>, on the one hand, and any one or more of the light source <NUM>, the control module <NUM>, and the display <NUM> may be through a wired connection or through a wireless connection.

As is described in greater detail below, during operation of the oral care evaluation system <NUM>, the light source <NUM> emits a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, with the light illuminating oral tissue, such as the tongue <NUM>, within the oral cavity <NUM>. The image sensor <NUM> detects light from the fluorescing organic compound and generates image data for an image of the oral tissue. The image processor <NUM> is programmed to asses an attribute of each pixel in the image in order to evaluate the oral hygiene associated with the oral tissue. The image processor <NUM> is further programmed to communicate the evaluation to a user, such as by displaying the image of the oral tissue and/or the hygiene grade on a display screen.

<FIG> illustrates an oral care evaluation system <NUM> in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The oral care evaluation system <NUM> includes an imaging subsystem <NUM> and an image processing subsystem <NUM>. The imaging subsystem <NUM> includes a light source <NUM>, an image sensor <NUM>, and a light filter <NUM>. The light source <NUM> may be any type of light source which is capable of emitting light in the desired spectrum, such as an LED or an incandescent light bulb. Other types of light sources may also be used, with the light source not limiting the scope of the invention unless otherwise expressly stated in the claims. As previously described, the emission spectrum of the light source <NUM> is selected based upon the absorption spectrum of the targeted organic compound, and the targeted organic compound, in certain embodiments, may be a porphyrin compound. In certain embodiments, the light source <NUM> is selected and/or configured to emit a spectrum of light having wavelength of between <NUM> to <NUM>. In certain other embodiments, the light source <NUM> may emit a narrower spectrum, so long as the emitted spectrum still has an effective overlap with the absorption spectrum of the targeted organic compound. In still other embodiments, the spectrum of light emitted from the light source <NUM> may include wavelengths less than <NUM>, and/or it may include wavelengths over <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the light source <NUM> may also include a light filter which limits the emission of light from the light source <NUM> to the desired emission spectrum.

The image sensor <NUM> is configured to detect light in the spectral range of light emitted from the fluorescing organic compound. The light filter <NUM> is included to filter light incident on the image sensor <NUM>, with the purpose being to limit the incident light to the fluorescence spectrum of the porphyrin compound. In certain embodiments, the light filter <NUM> may be omitted where the image sensor <NUM> has limited or no sensitivity to light outside of the fluorescence spectrum of the organic compound. The image sensor <NUM> generates image data for an image of the oral tissue while the organic compound is fluorescing. In certain embodiments, the image sensor <NUM> may be a CCD. Other types of image sensors may also be used, with the image sensor not limiting the scope of the invention unless otherwise expressly stated in the claims.

The image processing subsystem <NUM> is communicably coupled to the imaging subsystem <NUM> so that image data for the image of the oral tissue may be transmitted from the imaging subsystem <NUM> and received by the image processing subsystem <NUM><NUM>. In certain embodiments, the imaging subsystem <NUM> and the image processing subsystem <NUM> may be communicably coupled through a wired connection. The communication connection between the imaging subsystem <NUM> and the image processing subsystem <NUM> also allows the image processing subsystem <NUM> to send command signals to control operation of the imaging subsystem <NUM>. In alternative embodiments, the image processing subsystem <NUM> and the imaging subsystem <NUM> may communicate using a wireless connection. In such embodiments, the wireless connection may use any type of appropriate wireless protocol for communications, such as, for example, Bluetooth®, WiFi, cellular, and the like.

The image processing subsystem <NUM> includes a programmable processor <NUM> and a display screen <NUM> communicably coupled to each other. The programmable processor <NUM> is programmed to control the light source <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM>, such that during operation of the oral care evaluation system <NUM>, the light source <NUM> emits a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, with the light illuminating oral tissue, such as the tongue <NUM>, within the oral cavity <NUM>. By controlling the light source <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM> in this manner, the programmable processor <NUM> is able to obtain image data while the organic compound is fluorescing. The programmable processor <NUM> is also programmed to control the display screen <NUM> so that the image of the oral tissue and/or a hygiene grade may be displayed to the user. IN certain embodiments, the programmed functionality of the programmable processor <NUM> may be as described below in connection with the process for evaluating oral hygiene. In certain embodiments, the display screen <NUM> may be a touch sensitive screen which accepts input from a user in response to touches on the touch sensitive screen. In such embodiments, the programmable processor <NUM> may control the light source <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM> in response to input received from the user through the display screen <NUM>.

In certain embodiments, the image processing subsystem <NUM> may also include a volatile and/or non-volatile memory, which may be used for storing programming and for storing data. In such embodiments, the memory may also be used to store historical data. In certain embodiments, the image processing subsystem <NUM> may be a computing device such as, for example, a laptop, a smart phone, a tablet, a PDA, and the like. In still other embodiments, the image processing subsystem <NUM> may also communicate with a server (not shown) for purposes of storing historical data and/or to provide server-side processing functionality.

The image processing subsystem <NUM> is communicably coupled to the imaging subsystem <NUM> so that image data for the image of the oral tissue may be transmitted from the imaging subsystem <NUM> and received by the image processing subsystem <NUM>. The communication connection between the imaging subsystem <NUM> and the image processing subsystem <NUM> also allows the image processing subsystem <NUM> to send command signals to control operation of the imaging subsystem <NUM>. In this embodiment, the imaging subsystem <NUM> and the image processing subsystem <NUM> are communicably coupled through a wired connection.

The image processing subsystem <NUM> includes a programmable processor <NUM> and a wireless transceiver <NUM> which are communicably to each other. In certain embodiments, the image processing subsystem <NUM> may also include a volatile and/or non-volatile memory, which may be used for storing programming and/or data. The wireless transceiver <NUM> may be configured to transmit the image data using any type of appropriate wireless protocol for communications. Non-limiting examples of wireless protocols include Bluetooth®, WiFi, cellular, and the like. The programmable processor <NUM> is programmed to control the light source <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM>, such that during operation of the oral care evaluation system <NUM>, the light source <NUM> emits a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, with the light illuminating oral tissue, such as the tongue <NUM>, within the oral cavity <NUM>. By controlling the light source <NUM> and the image sensor <NUM> in this manner, the programmable processor <NUM> is able to generate image data while the organic compound is fluorescing. The programmed functionality of the programmable processor <NUM> for generating the image data is described in greater detail below.

Evaluation of the generated image data may be performed by the programmable processor <NUM>, by the remote device <NUM>, or by a combination of the programmable processor <NUM> and the remote device <NUM>. The remote device <NUM> is a general computing device such as, for example, a laptop, a smart phone, a tablet, a PDA, and the like. In certain embodiments, the remote device <NUM> may be programmed with functionality to fully evaluate the image data as described herein. The remote device <NUM> is also programmed to display the evaluation results on the display screen <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the evaluation results displayed on the display screen <NUM> may be the image of the oral cavity <NUM>, which includes the oral tissue being evaluated, and/or the hygiene grade <NUM>.

In certain embodiments, the remote device <NUM> may also be used to control the functionality of the programmable processor <NUM>. In such embodiments, the remote device <NUM> may accept input from a user and send control commands to the programmable processor <NUM> in response to the user input.

The remote device <NUM> may also communicate with a cloud server <NUM> using one or more public or private local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN). In certain embodiments, the remote device <NUM> may communicate one or more of the image data, the evaluation results, and any meta data associated with the evaluation with the cloud server <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the cloud server <NUM> may be used to store historical data associated with oral care evaluations. In still other embodiments, the cloud server <NUM> may be used as a data aggregator, and the cloud server <NUM> may be used to perform additional data analysis, both on individual evaluations and on aggregated evaluations.

<FIG> are flowcharts <NUM>, <NUM> showing a process for evaluating oral hygiene. The programmable processors described above in connection with embodiments of the invention may be programmed to follow the process of the flowcharts <NUM>, <NUM>. In addition, the capabilities and parameters of the embodiments described above may be incorporated into the process of the flowcharts <NUM>, <NUM>. In certain embodiments, the processes shown and described herein may performed by a plurality of processors, with each processor being programmed to perform only a portion of the process, and with all the processors together being programmed to perform the entirety of the process.

As shown in <FIG>, the process begins with a step of illuminating <NUM> oral tissue within an oral cavity with a light source emitting a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound. In certain embodiments, the light source may be any type of light source which emits light in a spectrum, as described above, which induces fluorescence in an organic compound. In certain embodiments, the targeted organic compound is a porphyrin compound, and the light spectrum emitted by the light source overlaps, at least partially, with the absorption spectrum of the porphyrin compound.

While the organic compound is fluorescing, the process continues with a step of generating image data <NUM> for an image of the oral tissue. In certain embodiments, the image data may be generated by an image sensor receiving light from the fluorescing porphyrin compound. The image of the oral tissue is a digital image, and as such the digital image includes a plurality of pixels. In certain embodiments, the digital image has a pixel resolution of at least <NUM>×<NUM>. In certain other embodiments, the digital image may have a pixel resolution of less than <NUM>×<NUM>, such as <NUM>×<NUM> or even less. It should be understood that the tradeoff for using a digital image with a lower pixel resolution is that the accuracy of the evaluation may decrease as the pixel resolution decreases. In certain embodiments, each pixel may be independently defined within the image data. In certain other embodiments, such as for image data that represents a compressed image, each pixel is independently defined only after the compressed image data is decompressed. In certain embodiments, the image data may conform to a standardized image format, such as gif, jpg, tif, png, and the like.

In the next step, the process continues with evaluating <NUM> oral hygiene. In certain embodiments, the results of the evaluation may be in the form of a hygiene grade, which is an assigned value used to inform the user about the results of the oral hygiene evaluation. In such embodiments the assigned value is a hygiene grade, which may be a numeric score ranging from <NUM>-<NUM>, or <NUM>-<NUM>, or it may be an alphabetical score ranging from A-F. Once the evaluation <NUM> is completed, the image and/or the results of the evaluation, such as the hygiene grade, are displayed <NUM> on a display screen.

<FIG> is a flowchart <NUM> which illustrates details of the evaluation <NUM> step in <FIG>. As a first step during the evaluation <NUM>, an attribute of each pixel of the image is assessed and an attribute value is assigned <NUM> to each pixel. In certain embodiments, the attribute assessed is the intensity of each pixel. In still other embodiments, other attributes of each pixel may be assessed in addition to or instead of the intensity. The assigned attribute value is based on the assessed attribute of each individual pixel and the overall range of the assessed attributes amongst all pixels. The assigned attribute values have a predetermined range, such as from <NUM>-<NUM>, with <NUM> representing a lower intensity than <NUM>. The number of attribute values within the range may vary, however, the range should include a sufficient number of attribute values to create a meaningful distribution for the assessed attribute. Once the attribute values are assigned <NUM>, then in the next step the number of pixels associated with each attribute value are counted <NUM>. Once all the attribute values are counted, the evaluation process ends with identifying <NUM> the numerical distribution of the counted and assigned attribute values.

<FIG> is a graph <NUM> which shows four different sample numerical distributions for assessed intensity based on fluorescing images generated from tongues. The x-axis of the graph <NUM> represents the range of attribute values that are assigned to the pixels based on the assessed intensity, and the y-axis represents the number of pixels counted as a function of the attribute value. In the graph <NUM>, dirty tongues <NUM> and <NUM> have a larger number of pixels in the higher intensity region above the attribute value of <NUM>, and therefore a corresponding lower number of pixels in the lower intensity region below the attribute value of <NUM>. Also, for <NUM> tongues <NUM> and <NUM>, nearly all pixels are assigned an attribute value below <NUM>. Thus, the graph <NUM> illustrates that a distinct difference exists between the attribute value distribution for a dirty tongue as compared to the attribute value distribution for a clean tongue when the attribute is the intensity of the pixels. From these differences, and because the intensity value distribution correlates with the amount of bacteria present on the tongue, a hygiene grade may be generated for each of the numerical distributions. For example, on a scale of <NUM>-<NUM>, a <NUM> on this hygiene scale may represent an image having more than a nominal number of pixels counted for intensity values over <NUM>, such as is seen for the dirty tongues <NUM> and <NUM>. Also, a <NUM> on this hygiene scale may represent an image having any intensity value between <NUM>-<NUM> which also has a pixel count for any intensity value above <NUM>, such as is seen for the clean tongues <NUM> and <NUM>.

Two images are presented to illustrate the differences seen in the intensity distributions in the graph of <FIG>; <FIG> is an image showing a tongue before cleaning, and <FIG> is an image showing a tongue after cleaning. As can be seen by comparison of these two images, the image of <FIG> has a greater number of high intensity pixels as compared to the image of <FIG>. These differences are reflected in the differences in the dirty tongues versus the clean tongues in the graph <NUM> of <FIG>.

Claim 1:
An oral care evaluation system (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising:
a light source (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) configured to emit a spectrum of light which induces fluorescence in an organic compound, the light source (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) illuminating soft oral tissue within an oral cavity;
an image sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) receiving light generated by fluorescence of the organic compound on the soft oral tissue, the image sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) generating image data for an image of the soft oral tissue, the image comprising a plurality of pixels; and
an image processor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) receiving the image data from the image sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and programmed to evaluate oral hygiene of the soft oral tissue by assessing an attribute of each pixel in the image;
wherein the system (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) further comprises
a display screen (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) communicably coupled to the image processor, wherein the image processor is programmed to display the image of the soft oral tissue on the display screen (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>); wherein
the image processor is programmed to display a hygiene grade on the display screen, the hygiene grade resulting from the evaluation of oral hygiene;
wherein while assessing the attributes of the pixels, the image processor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is programmed to assign one of a plurality of attribute values to each pixel and to count a number of pixels associated with each of the plurality of attribute values, wherein the image processor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is further programmed to evaluate oral hygiene based upon a numerical distribution of counted pixels versus the attribute values.