NEW BRUNSWICK -- A Rutgers University dentist and associate professor has created a powered toothbrush with suctioning capabilities that can help prevent kids and some hospital patients with swallowing difficulties from swallowing toothpaste.
As a rule, dentists recommend that patients don't swallow toothpaste.
A 2023 systematic review and analysis aimed to evaluate toothpaste ingestion. They used a comprehensive search strategy to include 18 relevant publications, said Dr. Maxine Strickland, associate professor of Diagnostic Sciences at the Rutgers University School of Dental Medicine in New Brunswick.
What they found is that the overall risk of sustained toxicity was low, with no severe or life-threatening events reported in the studies, she said.
However, some toothpaste formulations contain higher concentrations of fluoride which are associated with increased risk of dental issues, Strickland said.
Dentists are mostly concerned with children swallowing toothpaste, which can increase fluoride levels in the blood supply, resulting in upset stomach, nausea, and/or vomiting. Children are encouraged to use a pea-size amount of toothpaste so in case they do swallow, it's at least a small amount.
That being said, Strickland said there is a process in the mouth that exists along a continuum that is the process of demineralization and remineralization. Fluoride helps to prevent dental caries (tooth decay or cavities) on the teeth during the process of remineralization. That's why it's still important to use fluoride toothpaste when brushing your teeth.
Dr. Strickland spent the past six years developing the MaxVac, a toothbrush with brushing and suctioning capabilities, initially designed to help patients with disabilities, especially those who have problems swallowing.
"It also helps with swallowing toothpaste. That's just a bonus for the toothbrush. It benefits the young children, patients with limited capacity, oral cancer patients, maybe patients who have sustained a fractured jaw," Strickland said.
Military personnel expressed interest to Strickland telling her that NASA may be interested in the MaxVac for astronauts because of the water being self-contained. It would be able to be included in a micro-gravity environment.
Strickland said she is excited about perfecting the MaxVac for NASA.
There is a vacuum and a reservoir self-contained within a compact device, which in this case, is a powered toothbrush, Strickland said.
"That works simultaneously as you're brushing to take out those fluids and the debris that we're removing from our teeth, and collects it into a reservoir which can be removed, discarded, and cleaned," she explained.
It has taken Strickland six years to create this suctioned-powered toothbrush and she continues to perfect it. The first version of MaxVac was a device that snapped into an existing toothbrush, she said. The second version, developed with a Natural Science Foundation grant, is a stand-alone powered toothbrush with the very specific capabilities of removing liquids from the mouth.
She has also gathered patient feedback which led her to create third and fourth versions of the MaxVac that are smaller and easier to hold.
Strickland's hope is to get the toothbrush out to hospital patients first, especially those with spinal cord injuries or strokes who have trouble swallowing.
"What happens is that because they have these neurological impairments, the bacterial-laden saliva gets aspirated into the lungs. That can create health risks for the patient, for pneumonia. In getting this toothbrush out there, we can help prevent some of these pneumonias" Strickland said.
This is what she looks forward to doing in the near future. She has applied for funding to make enough toothbrushes for hospital patients who need them.
"Honestly, I had never really thought about being an inventor. It's been a nice, exciting venture trying to reduce some of the anxiety and give dignity to the patients," Strickland said.
Unfortunately, MaxVac is not available in stores yet. However, Strickland is looking for partners to help make it available in stores.
Her ultimate goal is to see MaxVac widely accessible in all stores alongside other dental products, and possibly in the backpacks of hikers and spacecrafts for astronauts, according to Rutgers.