Dyson has built a toothbrush with a camera in it. The CameraJet, unveiled in Paris and now available for preorder at $499, pairs a 100,000-pixel macro lens with a targeted water jet designed to flush plaque from the gaps between teeth, the areas dentists say are hardest to clean with a brush alone.
The lens captures 28 images per second as the brush moves across the teeth, feeding a machine-learning system that Dyson calls Gap Optical Targeting. When the software identifies a gap, the device fires a conical-shaped precision jet at the site within 100 milliseconds, according to details from the company's product announcement. The brush runs on roughly 16 million lines of code and carries a 12.5-milliliter reservoir engineered to function regardless of the device's orientation.
Dyson says the system is the result of six years of research involving 661 engineers, 38 filed patents and consultation with 30 dental professionals worldwide. The machine-learning model was trained on more than 470,000 dental images, according to reporting from DentistryIQ. It is the company's first foray into oral care, following decades focused on vacuums, hair tools and air purifiers.
Company founder James Dyson framed the device as addressing a blind spot in ordinary brushing.
Our research has shown that people consistently miss the areas where plaque forms: the gaps between teeth.
James Dyson, founder, Dyson
Dental commentators have offered a more measured reception. Andrew Johnston, a clinical editor who reviewed the technology, cautioned that visual detection has limits, noting that identifying a gap does not necessarily mean plaque, or biofilm, is actually present there. The $499 price, roughly ten times that of a standard electric toothbrush, has also drawn attention on social media, with reactions ranging from fascination to skepticism about whether a camera is a meaningful addition to brushing.
The CameraJet is available now in two colorways, described by Dyson as Ceramic Ultra Blue and Ceramic Pink, through the company's website and select retailers, with wider shipments expected in the coming weeks.