- 1
Superstition
Steve Wonder - 2
Somebody’s Watching Me
Rockwell - 3
Die With A Smile
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars - 4
Stargazing
Myles Smith - 5
She’s gone, Dance On
Disclosure
About
General
What is Brush DJ?
Brush DJ is an award-winning, free toothbrush timer app that plays 2 minutes of music taken from the user’s device to encourage brushing for an effective length of time. The app also allows users to set reminders to brush twice a day, floss, use a mouthrinse and when next to see their dentist, hygienist, therapist or orthodontist. Evidence-based age specific information is given as per the NHS toolkit ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’.
Where does the information come from that is given in Brush DJ?
The app was built around the information given in the NHS Delivering Better Oral Health Toolkit.
Why 2 minutes?
This comes from the following research ‘The effect of brushing time and dentifrices on dental plaque removal in vivo‘.
Looking after your baby’s teeth
This webpage by the NHS has a useful information and a video about looking after your baby’s teeth
Who developed Brush DJ?
Brush DJ was developed by dentist Ben Underwood (UK General Dental Council Number 76663). The app was built by Netsells and the website by Impulse Media. The video was produced by Dr Nik Morris.
Dental Professionals
All dental professionals have an ethical responsibility to prevent dental disease rather than just manage its consequences.
The Brush DJ app is not a panacea, but is a useful motivational tool for dental professionals to recommend to their patients.
Brush DJ was built around the information given in the NHS Delivering Better Oral Health Toolkit
Research findings
A preliminary investigation to assess user perception of the Brush DJ app has been published in the British Dental Journal ‘The use of a mobile app to motivate evidence-based oral hygiene behaviour’ British Dental Journal 219, E2 (2015)
Published online: 28 August 2015 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2015.660.
The study concluded ‘A mobile app is a promising tool to motivate an evidence-based oral hygiene routine.’ www.nature.com
A survey by the British Dental Health Foundation reported:
Nearly 59% of women and 35% of men regularly skip brushing their teeth before bed.
The most recent Adult Dental Health Survey reported:
Only 26% of respondents used an electric toothbrush.
Only 21% use dental floss, with the use of dental floss falling between 1998 and 2009 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A study investigating ‘the effect of brushing time and dentifrices on dental plaque removal in vivo’ reported:
Routine toothbrushing is perhaps the single most important step an individual can take to reduce plaque accumulation and the consequent risk of plaque-associated diseases, such as periodontitis and caries.
Brushing time is the most easily controlled parameter of effective everyday brushing.
The average time spent brushing is considerably shorter than 2 minutes, and a value of about 45 seconds would seem a useful estimate.
Can I add a link to Brush DJ on my website?
We are more than happy for links to the Brush DJ website to be made 🙂
Please email your patients a link to the Brush DJ website or the YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plUxuzEvINg.
Sponsors
If you would be interested in sponsoring Brush DJ please contact us!
Press
It would be great if you would be kind enough to write something about Brush DJ. Please contact us to request an interview 🙂
The app is available for Apple and Android devices. Ben welcomes feedback on how Brush DJ can be improved and can be contacted via the website www.BrushDJ.com.
Images
Video
The Brush DJ video can be found on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plUxuzEvINg feel free to embed or place a link.
Terms & Conditions
Thank you for accessing this website www.brushdj.com. Please read these conditions of use before using this site.
The information on this site is intended to supplement, not be a substitute for, the expertise and judgement of your dentist, hygienist, doctor or other healthcare professional.
By using this site, you signify your acceptance of these conditions in return for which we will provide you with access. From time to time we may modify the conditions so please continue to review the conditions of use whenever accessing or using this site. If at any time you do not wish to accept these conditions then you may not use this site.
Whilst we take steps to ensure the accuracy of the information accessed via this site, we cannot guarantee or give any warranty as to its accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any information or material appearing on it.
Whilst we take pride in keeping this site updated with the most relevant and up-to-date information please note that, due to the way that websites are stored, copied and downloaded, the information on this website may be incomplete, out of date or incorrect.
Unless otherwise specified, the materials on this website are directed solely at those who access this website from the United Kingdom. Those who choose to access this site from other locations are responsible for compliance with local laws if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
Any claim must be brought against Brush DJ Ltd within a UK court or a claim must be brought in a court outside of USA or CANADA.
We have taken every care in the preparation of the content of this website, however we can not guarantee uninterrupted and totally reliable access to this website, and so therefore cannot guarantee that the information will always be completely up to date and free of mistakes.
Certain (hypertext) links in this site may lead to other websites, which are not under our control. When you activate any of these you will leave the www.brushdj.com website and we have no control over and will accept no responsibility or liability for the material on any website which is not under our control.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law. If any provision of these terms and conditions shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable then that provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
Cookies
This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience.
What is in a cookie?
A cookie is a simple text file that is stored on your computer or mobile device by a website. It contains some anonymous information such as a unique identifier, site name and some digits and numbers. It allows a website to remember things such as your preferences and what’s in your shopping basket, or to collect anonymous statistics.
How can I change my cookie settings?
We recommend leaving cookies enabled, to get the most out of your browsing experience. If you would like to change your settings, please follow the guidelines for your browser:
We reserve the right to alter these terms and conditions from time to time by posting new terms and conditions on this website.
Copyright
This site and all materials, text, code, content, software, videos, music, sound, graphics, photographs, illustrations, artwork, photographs, formats, files, graphics, devices and links contained in it or linked to it (together “Content”) are protected by copyright, trademarks and other rights of intellectual property owned by us or licensed to us.
Anyone accessing this site is entitled to view any part of it. However, the Content must not be used nor reproduced (in whole or part) for any other purpose including on or in connection with another website or publication or for direct commercial gain.
Any links to this site must be notified to and approved by us before they are created or steps are taken to create the same.
Privacy Policy
Brush DJ (“We”) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This policy, together with our terms and conditions of use, sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation, the data controller is Ben Underwood.
Information we collect about you
We may collect and process the following data about you:
Information that you provide when filling in our contact form on the app or website www.brushdj.com
If you contact us, we will respond if required and then delete your contact details.
Where we store personal data
If you contact us your email will be stored securely until it has been read and responded to, if this is require. After this it will be deleted.. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk.
Uses made of the information
We use information held about you in the following ways:
To ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for your computer.
Disclosure of your information
We may disclose your personal information to third parties:
If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation.
Your rights
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data .
Our website site and app may, from time to time, contain links to and from other websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.
Changes to our privacy policy
Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page.
Contact
Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be sent via the contact form on www.brushdj.com.
How to Videos
Please watch these short videos showing how to carry out basic oral hygiene tasks whilst rediscovering your music collection :)
How to brush with manual toothbrush
How to use an interdental brush
How to floss
Free Music Archive
- 1
Superstition
Steve Wonder - 2
Somebody’s Watching Me
Rockwell - 3
Die With A Smile
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars - 4
Stargazing
Myles Smith - 5
She’s gone, Dance On
Disclosure
Brush DJ Mentions
BDJ OpenOrthodontic patients’ oral hygiene compliance by utilizing a smartphone application (Brush DJ): a randomized clinical trial
“Our study indicated that PI and GI decreased in the intervention group who used the Brush DJ app in comparison with the control group. In addition, the app usage frequency was positively correlated with the brushing duration and frequency.
We believe that smartphone apps, as motivators and reminders, can improve orthodontic patients’ oral hygiene compliance, especially in adolescents.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41405-020-00050-5
JMIR mHealth and uHealthMobile Apps for Dental Caries Prevention: Systematic Search and Quality Evaluation
‘The Brush DJ app was the highest rated app with an overall MARS score of 4.4. This app also scored above the threshold for all subscales.’
Dove PressThe Feasibility and Acceptability of a Mobile Application for Oral Health Education Among Adults in Rwanda
Our study found that the acceptability and feasibility of mobile App for oral health education (BrushDJ) was high among the study participants. The mobile App for oral health received positive reviews from the user-friendliness nature. Our study findings have highlighted that the mobile App for oral health (BrushDJ) is a useful tool that might contribute to behaviour change and the adoption of adequate oral health measures. Population groups of all ages and backgrounds, even those in remote areas where the accessibility to dental services is challenging, can use the mobile App for oral health education.
The TelegraphThe whole tooth: How to keep their pearly whites pearly and white
“The older children like Brush DJ, a free app that will play you two minutes of music from your iTunes library, and buzz every 30 seconds to remind you to switch sides. Ecstatic applause awaits you when your brushing time is up.”
British Dental JournalThe use of a mobile app to motivate evidence-based oral hygiene behaviour. British Dental Journal August 2015
“Conclusion: A mobile app is a promising tool to motivate an evidence-based oral hygiene routine”
OprahIf Your teeth Get Fuzzy After Lunch
“Use “detergent” or add “water” if you don’t brush after every meal, says Linda Niessen, DMD, clinical professor at Baylor College of Dentistry-Texas A&M University. “Detergents” are fibrous foods such as celery, apples and carrots, which scrub away debris as you chew, she says. “Water” is saliva, which neutralizes acids and washes away food particles—and you make more of it when chewing sugar-free gum. But don’t postpone brushing and flossing for too long. “Plaque must be thoroughly removed every 24 hours,” says Niessen. (To put in the requisite two minutes, she recommends the timer app Brush DJ.)”
Health Innovation Manchester Momentum FundBrush DJ wins Health Innovation Manchester Award 2019
The Momentum Fund project will link the Brush DJ team with Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSC) and the University of Manchester to develop and evaluate a digital package to support adoption of Brush DJ in high risk communities.
SBRI AwardBrush DJ Ltd wins Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare competition
February 2019
Dentist Ben Underwood, creator of the Brush DJ app has been announced as a winner of a national Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare competition to improve children’s oral health. The competition was launched by NHS England in partnership with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and aims to identify and support innovative new products and services which have the potential to improve patient outcomes. It is the first competition of this type to focus on oral health.
Despite tooth decay being preventable, the NHS spends £50.5 million extracting decayed teeth from children under general anaesthesia every year1, with a total annual dentistry spend of £3.4 billion. This figure does not include the loss of productivity for parents/carers attending appointments during working hours. The direct and indirect global economic impact of oral conditions in children and adults has been estimated to be over US$442 billion2.
The SBRI award, which in phase 1 includes funding of up to £100k, will be used to explore the scientific, technical feasibility and commercial viability of adding enhanced features to the existing Brush DJ app. All potential features will be co-designed with children at highest risk of tooth decay and their carers and developed in collaboration with key stakeholders. The team will then apply for phase 2 of the competition, and if successful will secure funding of up to £1 million.
Ben Underwood, CEO of Brush DJ Ltd said, “It is amazing to have not only this financial support and recognition, but, critically, access to the expertise of SBRI and its partners. Having been part of the NHS Innovation Accelerator programme, I understand that in order to scale an innovation and gain widespread adoption, we will need champions from within all areas of healthcare. This award will allow us to take Brush DJ to the next level by recruiting a team of experts so that we can reach and help more children at risk of tooth decay.”
Karen Livingstone, National Director at SBRI Healthcare commented “The most common oral disease affecting young children in England is tooth decay, which has become a serious cause for concern for the NHS. We are excited to be supporting Brush DJ, an innovative toothbrush timer and dental care app, which helps to make brushing teeth a fun activity for children to build their offer and support improved oral hygiene. We look forward to helping to develop the technology further and to bring real benefits to young people’s oral health.”
References:
1. Health matters: Child Dental Health, 14 June 2017. https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2017/06/14/health-matters-child-dental-health/ (Accessed 12/08/18).
2. Global, Regional, and National Prevalence, Incidence, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years for Oral Conditions for 195 Countries, 1990–2015: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors N Kassebaum et al. Journal of Dental Research, 96 (4) 01 February 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00220345176935663. Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention. Public Health England, March 2017. Gateway reference: 2016224.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/605266/Delivering_better_oral_health.pdf (Accessed 12/08/18).Notes to Editors:
- SBRI competitions are on behalf of NHS England by the Eastern Academic Health Science Network through its delivery agent Health Enterprise East. Further information can be found at: sbrihealthcare.co.uk
- Background on Ben and Brush DJ:
Ben is an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) alumni. He invested his own money to develop the app for benefit of his patients, but realised that it could be scaled to reach thousands, if not millions of people. As an NIA fellow he received financial support to develop the latest version of the app. The funding for the NIA programme came from The Health Foundation, NHS England and the Academic Health Science Network. Follow this link to view a quick tour of Brush DJ: https://youtu.be/qoILstdnLHs
- Brush DJ is the only dental app in the NHS Digital Apps Library. It has been downloaded over a ⅓ of a million times in 197 countries. The main feature of the app is a timer which plays two minutes of music from the user’s device or streaming service, making the mundane task of brushing for an effective length of time more enjoyable, and therefore more likely to happen. The app also contains the evidence-based oral health information published by PHE3.
- As part of this process, Ben will recruit a team of expert advisors which will include:
Claire Stevens CBE
Claire is an NHS Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry and has served on the Executive Committee of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) for the last 8 years, most recently as President in 2017/18. She also established, and now Chairs, the Managed Clinical Network for Paediatric Dentistry in Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership and was on the steering group which produced NHS England’s Commissioning Standard for Paediatric Dentistry. Claire was appointed CBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List for services to children and will be one of the Brush DJ Ltd core team.
Alicia Ridout
Deputy Director, mHabitatAlicia brings significant expertise across a range of fields including clinical safety, programme design and delivery, complex care needs/carers and service improvement methodologies; user engagement is her passion and she has a proven track record of success, most recently awarded the CAHPO Digital Innovator Award in 2017.
Liz Ashall-Payne
Liz founded ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Application in 2015, determined to present a way to offer much needed guidance to app developers to help raise app quality, as well as helping the public and professionals to confidently find and apply apps that could genuinely improve public, patient and organisational outcomes. Liz is an NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow.
Dr Simon Bourne
CEO My mHealth
Simon has been CEO of my mhealth since 2012, and now works full time in this role. He is also one of the inaugural NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellows. my mhealth are now the leading UK supplier of long-term condition digital products to over 100 CCGs, for patients with COPD, Asthma, Diabetes and Heart Disease. This year my mhealth launch their first telehealth product that interfaces with their self-management solutions. My mhealth launch into 2 international markets this year (New Zealand and the US).
For interview requests, please contact info@brushdj.com
British Society of Paediatric DentistryOutstanding Innovation Award.
http://bspd.co.uk/Portals/0/OIA%202018%20release%20final.pdf The judges were unanimous in their decision as well as united in their
praise for the high standard of entries in 2018
NHS Innovation Accelerator FellowshipThe NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) is a fellowship programme which is being delivered collaboratively by NHS England, UCLPartners, The Health Foundation and with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs).
The aim of the NIA is to deliver on the commitment detailed within the Five Year Forward View – creating the conditions and cultural change necessary for proven innovations to be adopted faster and more systematically through the NHS, and to deliver examples into practice for demonstrable patient and population benefit.