Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home
  3. News

Beam wants to give you a smart toothbrush, then use the data for your dental insurance

By

beam technologies introduces dental insurance with its smart toothbrush
Image used with permission by copyright holder
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you brushed your teeth this morning. But how long did it take? On average, Americans don’t brush their teeth for the full two minutes recommended by dentists.

My electric toothbrush automatically shuts off after two minutes, but Beam Technologies makes a smart version that actually tracks all your oral hygiene stats … and uses that information to support a dental insurance plan. Beam sends you notices and encouragement if your brushing habits are falling short, and hopes this will result in improved dental hygiene — and reduced premiums. The company’s insurance plan gives away a toothbrush to each member, and hopes to reduce the cost of premiums by up to 25 percent, according to Fortune.

Recommended Videos

With the plan, your x-rays and fillings are covered, and you also get coverage for orthodontia and toothpaste and floss shipped to your door. And if head out on a business trip and forget your toothbrush at home, you won’t get charged more for skipping a few days. Instead, the connected device and accompanying app are meant to help promote better brushing habits. Beam has over 100,000 dentists in its network.

Related

The plan has been in trials for just the last couple months, and CEO Alex Frommeyer isn’t yet sure if having the data from all those connected toothbrushes is allowing premiums to be lowered.

Beam Smart ToothbrushThe $49 toothbrush connects to iPhone devices via Bluetooth. Like other electric toothbrushes, it’s battery-operated, has auto-shutoff, and buzzes when it’s time to move from the back of your teeth to the front. A forthcoming software update will help give you advice about how you could be brushing better, based on your pressure and duration of brushing. Don’t neglect those molars! If you sign up for Beam Perks, you’ll get replacement heads, floss, and toothpaste delivered every three months.

Users don’t have privacy concerns, according to what Frommeyer tells Fortune. Presumably Beam will keep your stats anonymous, so your dentist will have no idea if your claim that you brush three times a day is turning his office into a house of lies.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jenny McGrath
Jenny McGrath
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…
How often should you use your robot mop
irobot roomba spraying water on wood floor with vacuum Roomba in dock behind it.

Like vacuuming your home, mopping is a task that you can automate to free up time. Smart mops are becoming more readily available (along with combination robot cleaners) from some of the same biggest names in the business. There are some things for you to know about running your smart robot mop in your home.

When you first buy your smart mop, you'll probably want to run it all the time to clean any and all messes. Unfortunately, they aren't made for that. Smart robot mops are made to clean up slight dust and dirt as well as spills that aren't super tough. You will still have to manually mop up some messes if they become caked over or combined with other debris.

Read more
Do you need a smart toothbrush?
Oral-B iO Series 9 Smart Toothbrush in hand

When will we come to a time when every accessory in our home is smart? Is there a limit to what should actually be smart? Let's talk about a category that may not be what you traditionally think of as a smart device -- the toothbrush.

I'm all for having smarter health products and having the best technology in our hygiene products (like bidets), but I've not put a lot of thought into how, or why, my toothbrush is smart. It's time to dive in and see if it's even worth it.

Read more
The Home Connectivity Alliance wants to bring you the smart home of your dreams
A 55-inch Samsung The Frame 4K TV hangs on a wall in a dining room.

The interconnected nature of smart home technology has long been the subject of discussion, especially with regard to the "walled gardens" that sprang up around different platforms. Many opinion pieces (our own included) said that the smart home would never be truly "smart" until interoperability became commonplace. Today, a number of different companies came together to announce the launch of the Home Connectivity Alliance, an organization devoted to creating interoperable appliances within the home. This announcement might pale in comparison to CES 2022 launches of a massive new TV or a nifty new robot vacuum, but it's just as important.

The HCA is made up of American Standard Heating and Air Condition, Arcelik, The Electrolux Group, Haier, GE Appliances, Samsung Electronics, and Trane Residential. The presence of some of these companies comes as a surprise given their relatively low profile in the smart home market, but Samsung's membership is no surprise at all. Samsung has long been a proponent of Matter, another platform pushing for interconnectivity between devices.

Read more