Don’t Just Brush – Playbrush! // A Review

15th September 2016

Since we started brushing Ava’s teeth a few years ago, she has generally been okay with it, especially at the start as it was something new and interesting. However as time has gone on she does seem to fight it a lot more, especially when she is tired and feeling lazy. Plus she’s still not great at brushing all areas of her mouth.

playbrush

So when I heard about Playbrush I thought it sounded like an interesting idea to give us a bit of help, and Ava a bit of encouragement. Playbrush has been developed alongside dentists and over 300 children and aims to make teeth brushing fun for children (or adults!) whilst creating healthy habits and helping children learn to clean their teeth properly in a fun way.

Playbrush makes a game out of cleaning your teeth, with the Playbrush becoming a game controller once it is attached to your toothbrush. You download an app onto your phone or tablet and connect the Playbrush to your device via bluetooth and then your child can play the game within the app! It’s really quick and easy to set up and connects via Bluetooth quickly.

Children have to shoot Crobies, fly planes and save the tooth fairy, all just by brushing their teeth! Motion sensors in the Playbrush record how teeth are brushed (place, duration and speed) and a game algorithm helps children to brush for long enough and everywhere in their mouth.

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The app then gives you feedback in the form of brushing statistics as well as a unique reward system, encouraging children to brush more accurately and regularly – for two minutes, twice a day.

To be honest I was a little sceptical about the idea at first – do we really need even more technology and have it involved in every aspect of our days? And no, we don’t. However as busy and often exhausted parents, having help from something can be brilliant, especially if it inspires good habits that stay with the child for life.

Since starting to use the Playbrush in the evenings (we don’t always have time in the mornings) Ava has been much more interested in cleaning her teeth, and has actually asked to do it by herself (unheard of before). As the days have gone on and she’s more clear on what she is doing, she has been enjoying playing the game more and more. I can also see that she is covering a much larger area of her mouth with her toothbrush than she was before, and happily brushing for the two minutes that the game lasts.

It is one less battle each day and at an age when she is rather stubborn and kind of difficult, I am grateful to the Playbrush for that.

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Playbrush attaches to almost any manual toothbrush and you can have up to 6 profiles per device, so you don’t need a separate one for each of your kids – or the adults if they want to play too. At the time of writing the Playbrush on it’s own costs £19, which I think is a reasonable price if it’s something that could really help you. It comes in pink or blue (we have the blue one), and they also make a waterproof smartphone holder so you don’t have to hold the phone whilst playing.

I think it’s a great idea, particularly for those with children who really fight tooth brushing, or for those slightly older children who don’t do it properly and need a bit of help. I don’t think it’s a necessity at all, but as a parent, things like this that can help you out sometimes are very much appreciated. We’ll continue to use it, because Ava enjoys it and it’s working well for us at the moment.

We were sent a Playbrush to review and compensation for my time but all thoughts and opinions are mine are Ava’s.

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