Self-charged toothbrush facilitates tooth healthcare maintenance

Abstract

Toothbrushes have undergone no substantive improvements beyond their mechanical function for about 1118 years to date. Conventional toothbrushes often fail to establish an antibacterial environment on the tooth surface, allowing bacteria to recover and recolonize. Here, we developed an innovative self-charged toothbrush that integrates daily tooth brushing with piezoelectric functionality, synergizing both optimal mechanical properties and stable electrical activity. The self-charged toothbrushes can generate reactive oxygen species to disrupt bacterial membrane integrity and diminish bacterial adhesion by combining static antibacterial inhibition through surface potential with dynamic piezoelectric stimulation. Clinical evaluation revealed that the localized piezoelectric stimulation of self-charged toothbrushes can mitigate plaque formation and gingival inflammation. Mechanistic studies further revealed that the self-charged toothbrushes induced oxidative damage to the oral pathogenic bacterial membranes, thereby impairing the ATP-binding cassette transporter pathway. Hence, this study developed a concept of piezoelectric PVDF toothbrushes that combine physical cleaning with sustained antibacterial effect, thus highlighting the potential of self-charged materials in advancing oral healthcare.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science Advances, 2026 · DOI ↗