There are a wide variety of toothbrushes available today, each characterized by the flexibility and angle of the head, the amount, length, and softness of the brush bristles, and the shape of the tip.
Toothbrush bristles
Manufacturers make toothbrushes with these different features to meet varying consumer health needs. One factor influencing the bristle tip shape is the periodontal pocket, a small gap between the teeth and gums where food debris can accumulate.
If improperly cleaned, periodontal pockets can cause pyorrhea or gingivitis. Today, manufacturers have developed toothbrushes with tapered bristle tips that can enter and clean these periodontal pockets.
Product management teams must check bristle tips with a microscope to confirm that they meet the desired shape requirements.
Observing Toothbrush Bristle Tips with a Digital Microscope
The DSX1000 digital microscope from Evident enables users to quickly and easily perform a wide range of microscopy techniques. This includes brightfield, darkfield, MIX (a combination of brightfield and darkfield), polarization, and differential interference contrast (DIC). At the push of a button, users can toggle between these observation methods and easily determine the most suitable one for their application.
In this case, users can employ a range of observation techniques to view the condition of the semi-transparent bristle tip. Additionally, optical zoom enables users to obtain up to 10X magnification, covering the magnification range of a conventional metallurgical microscope with one objective lens.
Up to two lenses can be mounted to the microscope, enabling users to easily achieve higher magnification when needed. Capturing several images in the Z-axis and using the extended focal image (EFI) function enables users to generate an all-in-focus image from the root of the bundle of brush bristles to the tip.
By combining this approach with the automatic stitching function, users can capture image data not possible with a conventional microscope.
To illustrate these techniques for observing bristle tips, view the image examples below.
(1) Different microscopy techniques designed to suit your application
Brightfield.
Darkfield.
MIX (Brightfield and Darkfield).
Polarization.
(2) Zoom function
Objective lens 5X; Zoom 1x.
Objective lens 20X; Zoom 1x.
Objective lens 20X; Zoom 5x.
(3) Extended Focal Image function
The deeper side is focused.
The center is focused.
The surface is focused.
The entire surface is focused.
Products Used for This Application
DSX1000 digital microscope.
The DSX1000 digital microscope delivers improved images and results, enabling rapid failure analysis with accuracy and repeatability.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Evident Corporation - Industrial Microscopy.
For more information on this source, please visit OEvident Corporation - Industrial Microscopy