Tooth Tunes
Tooth Tunes is a children's toothbrush released by the Tiger Electronics division of Hasbro in 2007[1]. A single toothbrush has a manufacturer's suggested price of US$9.99. Each brush plays a two-minute song clip from a particular artist to encourage a child to brush their teeth for the dentist-recommended two minutes. A single toothbrush comes with one song. The toothbrush is officially accredited by the British Dental Health Foundation[2].
Once activated, a small CPU in the handle plays the featured song on the chip by transferring vibrations through the bristles, which act as transducers, into the front teeth, through the jawbone, and into the inner ear. The user hears a mix between a natural vocal hum and the song being played.[3][4][5] The intended result was for the music only to be audible to its user, however the music emanating from the toothbrush can be heard by those nearby, with increasing volume as pressure is applied to the brush head.
Andrew Filo, one of the toothbrush's inventors, said that he worked on the project because of his childhood fascination with his ability to hear himself humming.[3]
In September 2012 Arm & Hammer Spinbrush rereleased the toothbrushes with new songs.[6]
Artists and songs featured
2007
- Aly & AJ – "Walking on Sunshine"
- The Beach Boys – "Fun, Fun, Fun"
- The Black Eyed Peas – "Let's Get It Started"
- Jonas Brothers – Play My Music
- The Cheetah Girls – "The Party's Just Begun"
- The Cheetah Girls – "Shake a Tail Feather"
- DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford – "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)"
- Destiny's Child – "Survivor"
- Devo – "Brush It!" (Tooth Tunes (TM) version of "Whip It!")
- Drew Seeley and Zac Efron – "Get'cha Head In the Game"
- Hannah Montana – "The Best of Both Worlds"
- Hannah Montana – "Pumpin' Up the Party"
- Hannah Montana – "Rockstar"
- High School Musical Cast – "We're All in this Together"
- High School Musical Cast – "What Time Is It?"
- Hilary Duff – "Wake Up"
- Jamiroquai – "Canned Heat"
- Jesse McCartney – "Beautiful Soul"
- Jonas Brothers – "Hold On"
- Kelly Clarkson – "Walk Away"
- Kiss – "Rock and Roll All Nite"
- Smash Mouth – "All Star"
- RBD – "Ser o Parecer"
- Rihanna – "Umbrella"
- Queen – "We Will Rock You"
- The Village People – "YMCA"
2008
- The Cab – "Zzzz"
- The Cab – "Bounce"
- The Cab – "One of Those Nights"
- The Cab – "I'll Run"
- The Cab – "Vegas Skies"
- The Cab – "Can You Keep A Secret"
- The Cab – "This City is Contagious"
- The Cab – "Risky Business"
- The Cab – "That 70's Song"
- The Cab – "I'm A Wonder"
- The Cab – "Take My Hand"
- The Cab – "High Hopes in Velvet Ropes"
- Jonas Brothers – "Burnin Up"
- Hey Monday – "Homecoming"
- Taylor Swift – "Teardrops on my Guitar"
- Demi Lovato – "Get Back"
- Miley Cyrus – "Fly on the Wall"
- Taylor Swift – "Fearless"
- Selena Gomez – "Tell Me Something I Don't Know"
- David Archuleta – "Crush"
- Jesse McCartney – "Leavin"
- Varsity Fanclub – "Future Love"
- Savannah Outen – "Goodbyes"
- We the Kings – "Check Yes Juliet"
- Vanessa Hudgens – "Amazed"
- Zac Efron – "Scream"
- Mitchel Musso – "The In Crowd"
- Jordan Pruitt – "One Love"
- KSM – "Distracted"
2012
- Big Time Rush – "If I Ruled the World"
- The Black Eyed Peas – "I Gotta Feeling"
- Bruno Mars – "Just the Way You Are"
- Cody Simpson – "All Day"
- Hot Chelle Rae – "Tonight Tonight"
- Rihanna – "Only Girl (In the World)"
- Selena Gomez & the Scene – "Round & Round"
- Taio Cruz – "Dynamite"
- Queen – "We Will Rock You"
2013
- One Direction – "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing"
2014
- Kiss – "Rock & Roll All Nite"
- Kidz Bop – "Wake Me Up" and "I Love It"
2015
Tooth Tunes Junior
- Kidz Bop – "Party in the USA", "We Found Love", and "Good Feeling"
- Author Unknown – "The Alphabet Song" and "Brush-A-Long Song"
Patents
Tooth Tunes claims Intellectual Property protection under Patent # 6,115,477 ("Denta-mandibular sound-transmitting system") and unspecified pending patents. This patent was filed on December 3, 1997, and granted on September 5, 2000. [7]
See also
References
- ^ Buckleitner, Warren (2007-03-01). "That Tune in Your Head Could Be Your Toothbrush". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
- ^ "What are Tooth Tunes?". Reference. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
- ^ a b "I'm a punk toothbrush ... you're a blues toothbrush". London: the Daily Mail. 2006-09-02. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ "Hasbro Tooth Tunes toothbrush makes you a loud mouth". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ "Hasbro's Tooth Tunes". we make money not art. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ http://www.spinbrush.com/toothtunes.html
- ^ "United States Patent 6,115,477". USPTO. Retrieved 2008-03-05.