Patent ID: 8863343

Claim:
A toothbrush for performing care on an oral cavity using a vibrating member with bristles, the toothbrush comprising: a driving unit that includes a motor that vibrates the vibrating member; an accelerometer that outputs a signal having a waveform component representing a vibration frequency of the motor and an orientation signal representing an orientation of the vibration member; a vibration frequency detection unit that detects a vibration frequency of the vibration member based on the waveform component of the signal output by the accelerometer; a member pressure detecting unit that detects a degree of pressure acting on the vibration member based on the vibration frequency without using a detected current consumed by the motor such that, as the vibration frequency detected by the vibration frequency detection unit decreases, the pressure acting on the vibration member increases; a brushing area estimation unit that estimates a brushing area based on the orientation signal; and an output unit that outputs the degree of pressure in association with the estimated brushing area.