Ultrasound toothbrush promises painless checks for hidden gum problems

Summary

The toothbrush-shaped ultrasound transducer (left image) features a small head size (right image), allowing easy access to premolars and molars in the back of the mouth. Credit: Adapted from ACS Sensors 2025, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.5c00521 When visiting the dentist, you might remember being poked and prodded by a thin metal instrument to check your teeth and gums. This technique, called periodontal probing, is used to look for signs of gum disease. Now, researchers publishing in ACS Sensors report a toothbrush-shaped ultrasound transducer that can provide a less invasive screening for gum disease. In proof-of-concept demonstrations on animal tissues, the device produced measurements similar to those of a manual probe. Gum disease is a common condition affecting tissue that surrounds and supports teeth. If left untreated, it causes the gums to pull away from the teeth, creating pockets where harmful bacteria can grow. Currently, manual periodontal probing is the standard way to check for gum disease, but the technique is uncomfortable and can miss early stages. So, Jesse Jokerst and colleagues developed a small, noninvasive ultrasound method capable of imaging teeth and gums—even hard-to-reach molars and premolars at the back of the mouth. Ultrasounds work by sending sound waves into the body. When the sound waves encounter a structure, like gum tissue or a tooth, they are reflected and detected by a transducer. The transducer then converts the reflected sound waves into an image. Currently, most ultrasound transducers have large heads that are about the same size as a wireless earbuds case. Although they work for larger parts of the body, these transducers cannot access smaller spaces like those in the mouth. Smaller transducers that are about half the length and width of traditional devices are available, but current models have limited image resolution because they are only able to produce and detect low frequencies. To overcome these limitations, the researchers...