Proportion of total operating time in dental care process

Abstract

In the context of dental care, a system (100) is provided, the system (100) comprising: i) an appliance (110) configured to operate a functional unit; ii) a data providing device (120) configured to include operation data in the form of corresponding combinations of effective durations of dental care actions of oral regions and related regions, wherein the effective durations of the corresponding combinations add up to a total operation time of the dental care process and have corresponding values ​​according to a proportional division of the total operation time based on a distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the regions of the corresponding combinations; and iii) a controller (130) configured to communicate with the data providing device (120) and control the operation of the appliance (110) according to the operation data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] First, the present invention relates to a system configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in the user's mouth during a total operating time, the dental care process comprising dental care actions to be performed at corresponding areas in the user's mouth with the aid of a functional unit, and the system comprising an appliance configured to operate such a functional unit.

[0002] Second, the present invention relates to a controller configured to execute an algorithm for dividing a total operation time of a dental care procedure to be performed in a person's oral cavity into an effective duration of a dental care action in each area in the person's oral cavity.

[0003] Thirdly, the present invention relates to a remote device comprising the aforementioned controller and configured to communicate with a system, the system being configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in the user's mouth within a total operating time, the dental care process comprising dental care actions to be performed at corresponding areas in the user's mouth with the aid of a functional unit, and the system comprising an appliance configured to operate such a functional unit, wherein the controller is configured to control the operation of the appliance based on operating data.

[0004] Fourthly, the present invention relates to an appliance configured to operate a functional unit for the purpose of performing dental care actions at a corresponding area in a user's mouth, the appliance comprising a controller as mentioned, wherein the controller is configured to control the operation of the appliance according to operation data.

[0005] Fifth, the present invention relates to a computer program product comprising code, which is used to cause a controller to execute an algorithm for dividing the total operation time of a dental care process to be performed in a person's mouth into the effective duration of the dental care action in each area in the person's mouth when the code is executed on the controller. Background Art

[0006] US 5,544,382 relates to a system as previously mentioned. Specifically, US 5,544,382 discloses an electric toothbrush comprising a support member having a brush head at a distal end and a device for driving the brush head. The electric toothbrush also includes a timing device for generating a continuous indication of the interval of time elapsed in response to the device being turned on, wherein the interval of time elapsed is related to the desired time of the brushing portion of the tooth area. For example, a 120-second timer is used, so that the operation of the toothbrush stops 120 seconds after it has been turned on by the user. The total duration of the brushing process of 120 seconds or 2 minutes is generally regarded as the optimal duration involving satisfactory tooth cleaning results. In the context of US 5,544,382, it is said that the most fruitful actual time / area division is found to be four equal time intervals, so in fact, the brushing time is divided between four quadrants of the tooth area. Various options for communicating the end of the 30-second interval to the user are proposed in US 5,544,382, including the option of generating an audible signal or interrupting the device for driving the brush head with a "silent" burst. Summary of the invention

[0007] The object of the invention is to improve the prior art. The invention is defined by the independent claims. The dependent claims define advantageous embodiments.

[0008] According to the present invention, a system is provided, which is configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in the user's mouth within a total operating time, the dental care process including dental care actions to be performed at corresponding areas in the user's mouth with the aid of a functional unit, the system comprising the following: i) an appliance configured to operate such a functional unit; ii) a data providing device configured to include operating data in the form of corresponding combinations of areas in the user's mouth and effective durations of dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas, wherein the effective durations of the corresponding combinations add up to the total operating time and have corresponding values ​​according to a proportional division of the total operating time based on a distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the corresponding combinations; and iii) a controller configured to communicate with the data providing device and control the operation of the appliance according to the operating data.

[0009] Hereinafter, features of the invention will be explained in the context of brushing teeth, which should not be understood as implying that the invention is in any way limited to such context, nor that the following information is in any way inherently related to such context. The invention may also be applicable in the context of flossing, rinsing, bracket cleaning (to name a few), and combinations of two or even more contexts.

[0010] As previously mentioned, a total duration of a brushing process of 120 seconds or 2 minutes is generally regarded as the optimal duration involving satisfactory teeth cleaning results. In view of this, dentists generally recommend a brushing time of 2 minutes to their patients, and many electric toothbrushes are programmed to follow a 2-minute brushing condition. As known from US 5,544,382, the programmed 2-minute condition can be evenly distributed over four quadrants of the tooth area, or another number of segments can be selected. The present invention relates to the insight that such a distribution of the total brushing time does not take into account the individual state of each tooth / quadrant / segment, and also to the insight that no distinction is made between teeth that are more susceptible to a dental condition and teeth that are less susceptible to a dental condition. In known systems, teeth with a high probability of suffering from periodontal pockets or caries are given the same amount of brushing time as teeth with a low probability of suffering from periodontal pockets or caries.

[0011] By providing a system comprising an apparatus as previously defined in combination with a data providing device and a controller as previously defined, the present invention provides the possibility of obtaining a more complex time / area division than has heretofore been known / suggested in the art. The present invention proposes not to adopt the conventional one-size-fits-all approach when distributing the total brushing time over the entire oral cavity, but to take into account the variations associated with the person or the entire population and make appropriate adjustments based thereon. Specifically, the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the corresponding combination can be based on the distribution of the likelihood of disease development at the areas of the corresponding combination. In addition, the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the corresponding combination can be based on the user's personal information and / or knowledge of dental information.

[0012] A possible way of putting the invention into practice involves sorting all teeth according to the likelihood / probability of forming periodontal pockets or caries based on tooth / periodontal data extracted from a large population. The brushing time will be automatically distributed over all teeth / quadrants / segments in the mouth based on the sorting, so that the brushing time is distributed over the teeth in a "fair" manner, where teeth with a high likelihood / probability of forming periodontal pockets or caries get the largest share of the brushing time, while teeth with a low likelihood / probability of forming periodontal pockets or caries get a significantly smaller share, which may not exceed the required minimum. This may result in a distribution of brushing time including different effective durations of brushing action for each tooth / quadrant / segment in the mouth, where the number of different effective durations may be two or (many) more.

[0013] The invention is not in any way limited to the practical example of 2 minutes known from the field of toothbrushing when it comes to the total operating time. When the invention is applied in a field such as mentioned, it may even prove to enable the total operating time to be chosen smaller and still have an appropriate effective duration for each of the areas in the user's mouth. After all, there is no scientific evidence that a total toothbrushing time of 2 minutes is optimal.

[0014] The invention relates to the possibility of developing toothbrushes and other systems for use in the context of dental care which are designed to comply with the average needs of the population when it comes to achieving various degrees of dental care in various areas in the oral cavity. Furthermore, the invention relates to the possibility of providing a system for use in the context of dental care which is adapted to the needs of a specific user, in which case the system can be equipped with a user interface and a programmable data provider and / or controller.

[0015] It may be practical if the system is equipped with means for detecting in real time the position at which the dental care action is performed during the dental care process. In contrast, in the case where the position at which the dental care action is performed is automatically set by the controller (which may be the case if the functional unit includes a certain kind of mouthguard that is configured to be placed on several teeth during use), for example, the system may indeed not have such position detection means, but such means may still be provided to provide feedback about the actual position and to make corrections based on such feedback. As defined by the system according to the invention, this implies that the controller may be configured to provide input to the data providing means relating to the actual area at which the dental care action is performed during operation and to obtain output from the data providing means relating to the actual effective duration of the dental care action, and alternatively or additionally, the controller may include an area detector means configured to detect the actual area at which the dental care action is performed during operation.

[0016] Within the framework of the present invention, any suitable way of ranking the various areas in the oral cavity may be applied. In this regard, it should be noted that it may be practical if a care value is utilized that represents the degree to which dental care is required at the area constituting the corresponding combination of operational data included in the data providing means. For example, such a care value may be proportional to the degree to which dental care is required, in which case a higher care value represents a higher dental care need, while a lower care value represents a lower dental care need.

[0017] The present invention is not limited to a particular type of dental care, and the values ​​of the corresponding effective durations (which will be referred to as time values ​​hereinafter) can be determined based on the regionally relevant need for one or more types of dental care. For example, the distribution of time values ​​can be related to the distribution of periodontal pocket depths for each tooth, wherein the periodontal pocket depth can be the average periodontal pocket depth found in a representative population or the actual periodontal pocket depth in the mouth of a particular user, and wherein higher time values ​​can be associated with relatively deeper periodontal pockets, while lower time values ​​can be associated with less deep periodontal pockets. In general, at least a portion of the care value representing the extent to which dental care is needed can be made to be an average value applicable to a population of users and / or at least a portion of such care values ​​can be values ​​applicable to a particular user.

[0018] As previously mentioned, the system may include a user interface configured to allow a person to adjust the operating data in the data providing device so that the way the system is operable can be adjusted to specific needs. For example, the system may be configured to achieve the following situation: the dentist adjusts the settings of the system based on patient-specific oral characteristics (such as the absence of one or more teeth, the presence of one or more crowns, the occurrence of periodontitis at one or more locations in the mouth, etc.), which does not change the fact that the system can generally be user-friendly and can also be suitable for adjustment by the patient / user himself. Possible user interfaces can be provided in any suitable form, allowing a person to provide input to the system in any suitable manner. In this regard, it should be noted that any suitable communication means, such as the Internet, can be utilized. The system may include a remote device on which an app is installed, which is programmed to receive input provided by a person and transmit such input to the data providing device and / or controller.

[0019] With regard to the adjustable options of the system, it should be noted that it may be practical to have the controller configured to execute an algorithm for adjusting the operating data in the data providing device based on input about at least one area in the user's mouth, the algorithm comprising the steps of: i) adjusting the degree to which dental care is required with respect to at least one area; ii) determining a new distribution of the degree to which dental care is required at the areas of the corresponding combination and iii) making a new proportional division of the total operating time based on the new distribution of the degree to which dental care is required at the areas of the corresponding combination. In this case, it is also possible to have the data providing device include data in the form of corresponding combinations of areas and minimum effective durations, and wherein the algorithm comprises the steps of: i) checking whether the adjusted operating data relates to one or more combinations of areas and effective durations, wherein the effective duration is an inadmissible effective duration that is lower than the minimum effective duration associated with the corresponding area and ii) increasing any inadmissible effective duration to the minimum effective duration associated with the corresponding area. This is a way of ensuring that each of the areas will be subject to the restriction of dental care actions for a sufficient amount of time (i.e., at least the minimum amount of time). The result of following the steps as mentioned results in an adjusted division of the total operating time, which may or may not involve an extension of the total operating time compared to the initial adjustment. If an increase in the total operating time is undesirable, further adjustments may be made by performing further steps aimed at maintaining the original total operating time, wherein another new proportional division of the total operating time is calculated while taking into account all minimum effective durations and possibly other factors (i.e., correction factors).

[0020] The total operation time may or may not be adjustable in the data providing device, depending on the requirements and expectations regarding the dental care process to be performed. It may be practical to have a default value for the total operation time, which may be 2 minutes as previously mentioned for brushing teeth, or any other suitable amount of time.

[0021] Advantageously, the system according to the invention comprises communication means configured to alert the person of the expiration of the effective duration at the actual area where the dental care action is performed during operation. Having such a communication means can be particularly beneficial in the case where the functional unit can be moved by hand through the oral cavity, since the person manipulating the functional unit can rely on the information conveyed to him by the communication means in order to ensure that the dental care procedure is performed in the correct way as envisaged in this case.

[0022] The corresponding areas constituting the corresponding combinations of operating data included in the data providing device can relate to corresponding teeth and / or corresponding oral segments comprising at least two teeth, without changing the fact that other options (including the option of corresponding areas relating to corresponding parts of corresponding teeth) are also covered by the present invention.

[0023] As mentioned previously, the system according to the invention may include a remote device on which an app is installed, the remote device being programmed to receive input provided by a person and to transmit such input to the data providing means and / or the controller. In practice, where such a remote device is used, the app may also be programmed to provide information to the person, including information about the effective duration during operation of the system, as an alternative or in addition. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that practical examples of remote devices include smartphones, tablets and laptop computers.

[0024] The system according to the present invention may actually include a functional unit configured to perform the dental care actions included in the dental care process. A practical example of such a functional unit is a brush head.

[0025] The concept of the present invention (i.e., the concept of performing a proportional division of the total operating time based on the distribution of the degree to which dental care is required at corresponding areas in the oral cavity) is very suitable for a method of designing a system, which is configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in the user's oral cavity within the total operating time by subjecting corresponding areas in the user's oral cavity to dental care actions. Specifically, according to the present invention, this method may include the following steps: determining operating data in the form of corresponding combinations of areas in the user's oral cavity and effective durations of dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas, wherein the degree to which dental care is required at the areas is ranked, and wherein the proportional division of the total operating time is performed based on the distribution of the ranked degree to which dental care is required. The steps as mentioned may also be included in a method of determining control settings of an appliance, the appliance being configured to operate a functional unit configured to perform dental care actions at corresponding areas in the user's oral cavity.

[0026] The present invention also provides a controller configured to execute an algorithm for dividing the total operation time of a dental care process to be performed in a person's oral cavity into an effective duration of a dental care action for each area in the person's oral cavity, the algorithm being designed to process information about the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required on the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity, and determining operation data in the form of a corresponding combination of an area in the person's oral cavity and an effective duration of a dental care action to be performed at the relevant area by performing a proportional division of the total operation time based on the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required on the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity. With regard to the step of processing information about the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required on the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity, it should be noted that such a step may include the following sub-steps: obtaining a care value representing the extent to which dental care is required at the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity and determining the distribution of the care value on the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity. The present invention also provides a computer program product comprising code for causing a controller to execute the algorithm as mentioned when the code is executed on the controller.

[0027] The above and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the following detailed description of the manner in which the proportioning of the total operating time of a dental care procedure is performed when the invention is put into practice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar parts are indicated by the same reference numerals, and in which:

[0029] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 is a graph showing the average periodontal pocket depth per tooth extracted from a dataset associated with a population; and

[0031] Figure 3 The diagram illustrates the division of the human oral cavity into six segments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Figure 1 The arrangement of an embodiment of the system 100 according to the present invention is illustrated by depicting the various components of the system 100 as blocks. In the following, the various components are named and further defined.

[0033] Generally speaking, system 100 is configured to run in the context of a dental care process that will be performed in the user's mouth during the total operating time. System 100 can be suitable for regular use, especially when the dental care process involves brushing teeth, spraying liquids toward teeth and spaces between teeth, etc.

[0034] First, the system 100 includes an appliance 110 configured to operate the functional unit to subject the corresponding area in the user's oral cavity to a dental care action. For example, the functional unit may include a removable brush head and / or nozzle for spraying liquid, and the appliance 110 may be a handle configured to support and drive the functional unit. In general, it may be practical to make the functional unit removable from the appliance 110, but this is not necessary within the framework of the present invention. Further, the functional unit may have a design in which the effective positioning of the functional unit is a positioning in which the functional unit is at least partially inserted into the user's oral cavity.

[0035] Second, the system 100 includes a data provider 120 configured to include operational data in the form of respective combinations of areas in the user's oral cavity and effective durations of dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas, wherein the effective durations of the respective combinations add up to the total operational time of the dental care process and have respective values ​​according to a proportional division of the total operational time based on the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the respective combinations. The manner in which the proportional division of the total operational time is performed is explained later. By having a data provider 120 configured to include operational data as defined, the system 100 provides the possibility of closely / fully complying with any variation in the need for dental care throughout the oral cavity. In practice, the data provider 120 may include any suitable type of database system.

[0036] Third, the system 100 includes a controller 130 configured to communicate with the data providing device 120 and control the operation of the appliance 110 according to the operation data. In the example shown, the controller 130 includes an area detector device 131, which is configured to detect the actual area where the dental care action is performed during operation. Information about the actual area where the dental care action is performed is a useful input for determining the actual effective duration of the dental care action. In addition to being able to follow an algorithm for implementing the operation of the appliance 110 according to the operation data, the controller 130 can be configured to follow more operation-related algorithms, such as turning on and off the appliance 110, controlling the movement of specific parts of the functional unit, etc. when user input for this is received.

[0037] The presence of an area detector device in the system 100 is optional within the framework of the present invention. The components listed below are also not essential to the subject matter of the present invention, but may involve advantageous functionality and are therefore presented as included in the present embodiment of the system 100.

[0038] Fourth, the system 100 includes a user interface 140 configured to allow a person to adjust the operational data in the data provider 120. The process of adjusting the operational data in the data provider 120 may involve executing one or more algorithms programmed in the controller 130.

[0039] Fifth, the system 100 includes a communication device 150 configured to alert a person of the expiration of a valid duration at the actual area where the dental care action was performed during operation.

[0040] At least one of the user interface 140 and the communication device 150 can be implemented by the following operations: providing a remote device on which the app is installed, the remote device being programmed to receive input provided by a person and transmit such input to the data providing device 120 and / or the controller 130, and / or providing information to the person, the information including information about the effective duration during the operation of the system 100.

[0041] As an example of data that can be divided based on the proportion of the total operating time, Figure 2 Specifically, Figure 2 In , the average periodontal pocket depth per tooth extracted from a dataset of thousands of people (i.e., a dataset representing a population) is plotted. In the context of a population as mentioned, Figure 2 The distribution of periodontal pocket depth of each tooth in the mouth is shown, where each box shown in the figure represents the average periodontal pocket depth of a certain tooth identified by a number. The numbers identifying various teeth can also be Figure 3 In the example shown, the teeth identified by the numbers 2, 3, 14, 15, 18, 30 and 31 are associated with relatively large average periodontal pocket depths, while the teeth identified by the numbers 23 and 24 are associated with relatively small average periodontal pocket depths.

[0042] The following example shows how to interpret Figure 2 1 to rank the teeth according to the likelihood of having deeper periodontal pockets. Further, the table shows how the total operating time of 2 minutes can be divided among the various teeth based on the ratio factors attributed to the teeth based on the associated periodontal pocket depths, wherein the ratio factors involving teeth with periodontal pocket depths within the smallest range are set to 1, and wherein the ratio factors involving teeth with periodontal pocket depths within a larger range are set to appropriate multiples of 1. Thus, in the present system, a higher ratio factor indicates a higher dental care need, while a lower ratio factor indicates a lower dental care need.

[0043]

[0044]

[0045] In the context of an example of a dental care procedure to be performed on 28 teeth within a total operating time of 120 seconds, assuming that the appropriate portion of the total operating time is determined based on a distribution of needs for dental care, such as may be derived from the distribution of periodontal pocket depth as previously presented and / or from the distribution of one or more other relevant features, many other proportional divisions of the total operating time are possible. In another arbitrary example, the distribution of at least one relevant feature over the 28 teeth may be such that an effective duration of 10 seconds is attributed to three teeth, an effective duration of 6 seconds is attributed to six teeth, an effective duration of 5 seconds is attributed to four teeth, an effective duration of 4 seconds is attributed to one tooth, an effective duration of 3 seconds is attributed to two teeth, and an effective duration of 2 seconds is attributed to twelve teeth. In this case, the total operating time is divided into six different effective durations, namely, 10 seconds, 6 seconds, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds and 2 seconds, while in the example referred to in the above table, the number of different effective durations is five.

[0046] If one or more of the longest effective durations found as a result of performing a suitable proportional division of the total operating time appear to be longer than actually required, this situation provides the possibility of choosing to shorten the total operating time without affecting the envisaged dental care effect. On the other hand, if one or more of the shortest effective durations found as a result of performing a suitable proportional division of the total operating time appear to be shorter than the required minimum duration, this can be compensated by the following operations: extending the total operating time or performing a proportional division taking into account the minimum duration. Each possibility as required can be implemented based on configuring the controller 130 so as to follow an appropriate algorithm in the process of determining the operating data.

[0047] In the example where the effective durations are determined by tooth, it is most accurate to take those effective durations into account during operation of the system 100 in order to fully meet the dental care needs of each tooth. However, it may be more practical to divide by segment rather than by tooth. For example, Figure 3As illustrated in , a person's oral cavity 200 (as the sum of the upper and lower jaws) can be divided into an appropriate number of segments including more than one tooth, wherein the optimal time to be spent on a segment-by-segment basis for performing dental care actions in the segments is determined by adding the effective durations of the teeth in the segments. Referring to the details of the example based on the above table, assuming that the oral cavity 200 is divided into six segments A, B, C, D, E, and F, a total operation time of 24 seconds is attributed to segment A, a total operation time of 16 seconds is attributed to segment B, a total operation time of 24 seconds is attributed to segment C, a total operation time of 21 seconds is attributed to segment D, a total operation time of 13 seconds is attributed to segment E, and a total operation time of 22 seconds is attributed to segment F.

[0048] In the following, the way in which the system 100 according to the invention can be used will be described, whereby the functionality of the various components of the system 100 is further clarified.

[0049] As can be inferred from the foregoing, the system 100 can be used for the purpose of providing dental care in a manner determined by taking into account the oral characteristics of the population. In this embodiment of the system 100, other adjustments can be made, such as those deemed necessary to meet the user's specific dental care needs. In the example of a dentist and a patient, the dentist can be made to establish a treatment plan for the patient and transmit dental information about the patient to the data providing device 120 and / or the controller 130 through the user interface 140, especially dental information related to the degree of dental care required at various areas (e.g., various teeth) in the oral cavity 200. As previously explained, in practice, this can be achieved by the dentist using a remote device running an app. Based on the input provided through the user interface 140, appropriate operating data is determined by dividing the proportion of the total operating time based on the distribution of the degree of dental care required at the corresponding areas in the oral cavity 200 inferred by the input. As a result of the setting process, a personalized distribution of the recommended total operating time on all teeth in the oral cavity 200 is obtained. It may also be possible to provide input related to the total operating time to increase or decrease the total operating time. Further, the system 100 may provide a recommendation regarding the total operating time via the communication device 150, which may or may not be accepted.

[0050] Examples of patient-specific data include the following: i) one or more teeth may be missing, such that an effective duration of zero can be attributed to those teeth; ii) features may be present in the oral cavity 200, such as one or more teeth with fillings, crowns, implants, partial dentures, partial braces on the dental arches, etc., and the degree to which such features require dental care can be taken into account in the process of making the proportional division of the total operation time; iii) one or more areas of the oral cavity 200 may be affected by periodontitis, such that a relatively higher degree of dental care being required may be applicable to those areas; and iv) deeper than average periodontal pockets may be present on one or more teeth, which also involves an increase in the degree to which dental care is required for those teeth, and therefore an extension of the effective duration of the dental care actions to be performed at those teeth.

[0051] In this embodiment of the system 100, the functional unit will be moved through the oral cavity 200 by a person holding at least a portion of the appliance 110. The operation of the system 100 involves the following: i) the person manipulating the appliance 110 places the functional unit in an appropriate position relative to the area to be subjected to the dental care action; ii) the area detector device 131 detects the area; iii) based on the input from the area detector device 131, the controller 130 obtains the applicable effective duration of the dental care action at the particular area from the data providing device 120 and provides information about the effective duration to the person. The information about the effective duration can appear in various forms, including the form of a signal indicating that the effective duration has ended and the person can manipulate the appliance 110 to move the functional unit to another area. The controller 130 can be programmed to follow an algorithm designed to operate as follows: if the functional unit moves away from the area too early or if the functional unit remains at the area for a longer time than necessary, to keep track of which areas have been covered and which areas still need to be addressed and to keep the person aware of the coverage, etc., then provide a warning to the person.

[0052] In summary, the system 100 according to the invention provides the possibility of performing a dental care process in a manner that enables a division of the total operating time over various areas in the oral cavity 200, which division is in accordance with the extent to which oral care is needed in these various areas. Based on this, the effectiveness of the oral care process can be significantly improved. The operating data can be based on data related to a representative population and / or can be user-specific data, as can be input to the system 100 by various people, in particular dentists, patients themselves, and home users of the system 100. The need for dental care in a specific area can be assessed based on features related to the presence or absence of bacteria in that area, such as the possible presence of periodontitis or the size of the periodontal pockets, but can also rely on other features.

[0053] It should be clear to those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the examples previously discussed, but several modifications and amendments thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. It is intended that the present invention be interpreted as including all such amendments and modifications, as long as such modifications and amendments fall within the scope of the claims or their equivalents. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail in the drawings and the specification, such description and explanation are only to be regarded as illustrative or exemplary, and not restrictive. The present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. The drawings are schematic (in which details not necessary for understanding the present invention may have been omitted) and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0054] By studying the drawings, the description and the appended claims, those skilled in the art will be able to understand and effect variations of the disclosed embodiments in practicing the claimed invention. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other steps or elements, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0055] Elements and aspects discussed for or in relation to a particular embodiment may suitably be combined with elements and aspects of other embodiments, unless explicitly stated otherwise.Thus, the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0056] The term "comprising" as used herein will be understood by those skilled in the art to encompass the term "consisting of...." Thus, with respect to an embodiment, the term "comprising" may mean "consisting of," but in another embodiment, may mean "comprising / including at least the defined species and optionally one or more other species."

[0057] In the example where the corresponding teeth are subjected to dental care actions (such as brushing with a toothbrush), it is implied that one area after another is subjected to dental care actions. However, this should not be understood as implying that the present invention does not cover the option of performing dental care actions at various areas at once, so that the time periods for performing dental care actions overlap.

[0058] The salient aspects of the present invention can be summarized as follows. In the context of dental care, a system 100 is provided, the system 100 comprising: i) an appliance 110 configured to run a functional unit; ii) a data provider 120 configured to include operation data in the form of respective combinations of effective durations of dental care actions of oral regions and related regions, wherein the effective durations of the respective combinations add up to the total operation time of the dental care process and have respective values ​​according to a proportional division of the total operation time based on a distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the regions of the respective combinations; and iii) a controller 130 configured to communicate with the data provider 120 and control the operation of the appliance 110 according to the operation data.

[0059] For example, the regions of the user's mouth may be teeth, and the effective duration attributed to each tooth may be based on the likelihood of deep periodontal pocket formation for the corresponding tooth. Alternatively or additionally, other factors indicative of the onset or presence of gum disease can also be used to determine the attribution of care time to the corresponding oral region. Examples of such other factors include the likelihood of plaque formation, bleeding, and gum recession on a given tooth or set thereof. Further, for the purpose of generating a division of the total operating time commensurate with the user profile, knowledge of the user's personal information and / or dental information can be used as input.

Claims

1. A system (100) for oral care, configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in a user's oral cavity (200) during a total operation time, the dental care process comprising dental care actions to be performed at corresponding areas in the user's oral cavity by means of a functional unit, and the system (100) comprising: An apparatus (110) configured to execute such a functional unit, A data providing device (120) configured to include operation data in the form of respective combinations of areas in the user's oral cavity (200) and effective durations of dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas, wherein the effective durations of the respective combinations add up to the total operation time, and have respective values ​​according to a proportion of the total operation time divided based on a distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the respective combinations, at least two of the values ​​being different from each other, and A controller (130) configured to communicate with the data providing device (120) and control the operation of the appliance (110) according to the operation data, wherein the controller (130) is configured to execute an algorithm for adjusting the operation data in the data providing device (120) based on input regarding at least one area in the user's oral cavity (200), the algorithm comprising the following steps: adjusting the degree to which dental care is required with respect to the at least one area to which the input applies, determining a new distribution of said extent to which dental care is required at said areas of said respective combination, and A new proportional division of the total operating time is performed based on the new distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the respective combinations.

2. The system (100) according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the extent to which dental care is needed at the areas of the corresponding combination is based on a distribution of the likelihood of disease development at the areas of the corresponding combination.

3. The system (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the distribution of the extent to which dental care is needed at the areas of the respective combinations is based on knowledge of personal information and / or dental information of the user.

4. A system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the controller (130) is configured to provide input to the data providing device (120) related to the actual area where the dental care action is performed during operation and to obtain output from the data providing device (120) related to the actual effective duration of the dental care action.

5. The system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the controller (130) comprises an area detector device (131), which is configured to detect the actual area where the dental care action is performed during operation.

6. The system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, comprising a user interface (140), wherein the user interface (140) is configured to allow a person to adjust the operating data in the data providing device (120).

7. The system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, comprising a communication device (150) configured to alert a person of the expiration of a valid duration at an actual area where a dental care action is performed during operation.

8. A system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the corresponding areas of the corresponding combinations are associated with corresponding teeth and / or corresponding oral segments (A, B, C, D, E, F) comprising at least two teeth.

9. The system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, comprises a remote device on which an app is installed, the remote device being programmed to receive input provided by a person and to transmit such input to the data providing device (120) and / or the controller (130), and / or to provide information to the person, the information including information about the effective duration during operation of the system (100).

10. The system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, comprising the functional unit configured to perform the dental care actions included in the dental care process.

11. A controller (130) for oral care, configured to execute an algorithm for dividing the total operation time of a dental care process to be performed in a person's oral cavity (200) into effective durations of dental care actions for each area in the person's oral cavity (200), the algorithm being designed to process information on the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required on corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity (200), and determining operation data in the form of corresponding combinations of areas in the person's oral cavity (200) and effective durations of the dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas by performing a proportional division of the total operation time based on the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required on the corresponding areas in the person's oral cavity (200), wherein at least two effective durations are different from each other, The controller (130) is configured to execute an algorithm for adjusting the operation data in the data providing device (120) based on input about at least one area in the oral cavity (200) of the person, the algorithm comprising the following steps: adjusting the degree to which dental care is required with respect to the at least one area to which the input applies, determining a new distribution of said extent to which dental care is required at said areas of said respective combination, and A new proportional division of the total operating time is performed based on the new distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the respective combinations.

12. A remote device for oral care, comprising a controller (130) according to claim 11 and configured to communicate with a system (100), wherein the system (100) is configured to operate in the context of a dental care process to be performed in the user's mouth (200) within a total operating time, the dental care process comprising dental care actions to be performed at corresponding areas in the user's mouth with the aid of a functional unit, and the system (100) comprises an appliance (110) configured to operate such a functional unit, wherein the controller (130) is configured to control the operation of the appliance (110) based on operating data.

13. An appliance (110) for oral care, configured to operate a functional unit for the purpose of performing dental care actions at a corresponding area in a user's oral cavity, the appliance (110) comprising a controller (130) according to claim 11, wherein the controller (130) is configured to control the operation of the appliance (110) based on operating data.

14. A computer program product comprising code for causing a controller (130) to execute an algorithm for dividing the total operation time of a dental care process to be performed in a person's oral cavity (200) into effective durations of dental care actions for each area in the person's oral cavity (200) when the code is executed on the controller (130), the algorithm being designed to process information about the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required for the respective areas in the person's oral cavity (200), and determining operation data in the form of corresponding combinations of areas in the person's oral cavity (200) and effective durations of the dental care actions to be performed at the relevant areas by performing a proportional division of the total operation time based on the distribution of the extent to which dental care is required for the respective areas in the person's oral cavity (200), wherein at least two effective durations are different from each other, The controller (130) is configured to execute an algorithm for adjusting the operation data in the data providing device (120) based on input about at least one area in the oral cavity (200) of the person, the algorithm comprising the following steps: adjusting the degree to which dental care is required with respect to the at least one area to which the input applies, determining a new distribution of said extent to which dental care is required at said areas of said respective combination, and A new proportional division of the total operating time is performed based on the new distribution of the extent to which dental care is required at the areas of the respective combinations.

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