Dyson has turned its hand to a wide range of gadgets over the years, from vacuums and fans to haircare and hand dryers.Now, it wants to change how you brush your teeth.
The Dyson CameraJet is an electric toothbrush that aims to tackle teeth cleaning and flossing in one device, and at the same time.
It’s bigger than your average toothbrush, with a built-in mouthwash tank that fires tiny jets of liquid through a small opening in the brush head.
However, its real party trick is a tiny camera that lets it know exactly when to fire that liquid, by tracking and predicting the interdental spaces – the small gaps between your teeth – as you brush.
If that all sounds very technical for a toothbrush, you’re not wrong. Engineers at Dyson have been working on the CameraJet for six years, collecting almost half a million dental images during its development, filing 38 separate patents and building its system on 16 million lines of code.
You might have guessed that all this tech and research comes with a price tag to match. The Dyson CameraJet will set you back £419.99, which is significantly more expensive than high-end options from Oral-B or Philips. Even if you throw in the cost of a separate water flosser, you’d be struggling to spend that much – so is it worth it?
Better habits
I’ve been brushing my teeth with it for almost a week, and I have to say, I think Dyson is on to something.
That’s not to say using it doesn’t come with a bit of a learning curve, which might seem strange considering we’ve been brushing our teeth our whole lives. But there’s a definite knack to using it effectively, even if those tweaks to your technique might not be a bad thing.
I’ll admit my current oral health routine probably has some room for improvement. I’m something of a fairweather flosser – I’m predictably vigilant just after and just before a dentist appointment.
But if I run out of floss, forget it when I’m away from home or otherwise fall out of my routine, it can be some time before I get back on the horse. Dyson’s research found I’m not alone, with 9 in 10 people apparently not flossing as regularly as they should.
My decade-old electric toothbrush certainly encourages me to brush for the full recommended two minutes, but I think it would be fair to say my technique can lack any real sense of order. Even so, my dentist is usually fairly happy, but does pass me over to the hygienist twice a year to undo some of the things my brushing has clearly failed to address.
This is where the CameraJet could help me. By firing the jet of mouthwash between each tooth during brushing, Dyson’s toothbrush looks to remove, or at least reduce, the need for physical flossing.
While traditional water flossers use a ‘needle-type’ jet, the CameraJet uses a conical spray, which Dyson says is not only gentler on gums, but also offers wider coverage and a more effective result.
The default setting is for this to fire automatically as you brush, using the camera to detect, track and predict when it’s needed, but you can also press a button on the front to add in extra sprays if you wish. You can even turn it off entirely.
Weirdly addictive
It’s a strange sensation when you first start using it, but weirdly addictive. I’ve found I need to brush slower in small circles in order to have it fire the jet consistently between my teeth, and you feel rewarded when it does. I’ve also learnt I should absolutely not scrub, or a small beep politely tells me off.
My mirror has caught a fair few stray sprays of mouthwash as I have perfected my technique, and I’ve ended up a mess a few times too, but I think I’ve just about cracked it now (and stepped back from my mirror).
The compact 12.5ml anti-gravity mouthwash tank has been designed to ensure the jet keeps working consistently throughout your clean, even as the tank empties. I’ve found I use just shy of a full tank with every brush, but with each spray being so tiny, you don’t feel like you’ve suddenly got a mouth full of mouthwash while brushing.
That said, you do need to ensure you clear your mouth regularly, so the camera has a clean view of your teeth at all times – the light on the front will flash amber if it’s struggling.
That’s a consideration you obviously don’t have with a regular toothbrush, which is why Dyson has created its own non-foaming toothpaste and mouthrinse for use with the CameraJet, each costing £8.49. There are cheaper alternatives out there but they’re still a bit pricier than the regular stuff – not to mention they aren’t as readily available at your local shop if you run out. They taste nice enough though, and leave a very fresh feeling in your mouth.
Another consideration you may have with there being a camera in your bathroom is privacy, but rightfully, Dyson has been very clear on this. The camera is only ever active during cleaning and no images are ever recorded or stored, either on the product or in the cloud.
You can live view what the camera can see while brushing through a local wi-fi connection to the MyDyson app should you wish, but that’s it – the pictures go no further than that, and the connection closes at the end of the clean. For belt and braces, the camera has a light that shines whenever it’s on, so it’s easy to spot.
When you’ve finished brushing, you’ll need to rinse everything off and refill the mouthwash tank for next time. It comes with a dock that does this at the press of a button (and also charges the toothbrush), but annoyingly, it is powered by USB-C.
That means I have it next to my bed rather than in my bathroom, which might feel a bit strange for some. A shaver socket adapter certainly wouldn’t go amiss, for UK users at least. I couldn’t even find one to buy separately.
A real difference
If you’d rather, you can fill the tank manually. It reduces the need to return it to the dock, since the battery lasts long enough to sit on the sink for days, but it just doesn’t feel as slick.
Having to change even small habits like where your toothbrush lives can feel a bit frustrating in a product costing £420, but the Dyson CameraJet is one of those products that comes into its own when you start using it.
There are still quirks to its performance that take some getting used to, but in just under a week I have seen and felt a real difference in my teeth and gums that makes me keen to continue.
There’s no getting away from the fact it remains an incredibly expensive way to brush your teeth – and that doesn’t stop when you buy it.
If you opt for all of Dyson’s consumables, including new brush heads every three months as recommended (£25 for two), you could spend over £200 a year on top of the purchase price. You do at least get your first two heads, plus a toothpaste and mouthrinse included when you buy it, so those costs don’t hit immediately.
Whether your desire for better, more convenient oral hygiene is enough to justify that kind of investment is a personal decision.
But based on my time with it so far, I think the Dyson CameraJet offers a fun and effective way to improve your teeth brushing routine in a single product. I’m sure Dyson’s newest competitors are watching very closely indeed.