BioRobotics Oral Care System
An Oral Biorobotics System for Effortless Interdental Cleaning (2025)
This project explores how Penn Dental Medicine’s Biobotics technology can be translated into a comfortable, effective in-home oral hygiene device. Designed for users who struggle with traditional brushing and flossing routines, the concept supports a guided cleaning experience for hard-to-reach areas of the mouth in under two minutes.
Collaborators: Penn Dental Medicine and Hazel Chen, Yui Guo, Mubai Luo, Jasen Lee
Project Leads: Dr. Michel Koo, Dr.Ed Steager, Linda Donoho
Role: User research, product Strategy, UX design, Prototyping
Research & Key Insights
Over 80% of adults leave more than 40% of plaque after brushing. Existing routines are time-consuming and hard to follow, especially for users with physical or cognitive limitations. Gum disease and skipped prophylaxis are common issues, especially among aging adults and people with braces. We combined survey responses, user interviews, clinic observations, co-design sessions, and expert feedback to understand barriers in daily oral hygiene routines.
30+ survey responses
20+ user interviews
Clinic observations at Penn Dental
Co-design sessions with older adults, children, and disabled users
Expert feedback from dental professionals
-> Users judge cleanliness based on feel and social cues
→ Simplicity, safety, and comfort are essential
→ Tech must be intuitive for independent use
Overview
Market Estimate
TAM: 208M adults with ineffective brushing habits
SAM: 140M high-need users, including people with gum disease, skipped cleanings, braces, or disabilities
SOM: 25M realistic early adopters, including aging adults, caregivers, and tech-forward users
Concept Development & Co-Design Sessions
We explored multiple product forms, including pebble, puck, and pudding-like shapes, before converging on a U-shaped flexible silicone mouth tray that comfortably conforms to the gumline. Through user testing and co-design sessions with different groups, including people with mobility limitations, we found that users preferred soft, rounded forms and a comfortable in-mouth fit. The final concept integrates a pump and magnet system to agitate the nano-cleaning solution across the teeth and gums. We also resolved key technical challenges during prototyping, selected a biocompatible silicone material for comfort, and finalized the magnet into a U-shaped configuration to improve cleaning performance.
Storyboard
Final Design
The final concept combines a soft U-shaped mouth tray with a compact base for daily oral care at home. The tray uses a flexible silicone gum seal to support comfortable placement along the gumline, while Biobotics technology moves a cleaning solution through a guided routine. The device includes an LED status ring, one-button interface, USB-C charging, and a return-to-base experience designed for simple daily use.
U-shaped mouth tray with flexible silicone gum seal
Biobotics technology that moves a cleaning solution through the device
Watertight seal designed for comfort, stability, and guided placement
LED status ring and one-button interface
USB-C charging base
The mouth interface was designed to adapt to different mouth shapes while supporting comfortable placement and cleaning coverage.
Watertight Seal
Using Negative Pressure and Silicone to Maintain Seal; Silicone buffer conforms and presses against the gumline. Negative pressure is created when the pump activates
Due to the protected nature of the technology, this public portfolio version focuses on the design process, user research, and product experience while omitting proprietary technical implementation and testing details.
