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A lot of time and effort goes into toothbrush technology, whether changing bristle angles or tweaking and improving electric models. No matter the developments, they all essentially still do the same thing to a greater or lesser degree, which is using a mechanical scrubbing motion to clean teeth.

But an upgrade could soon be on the way. Scientists have developed a battery-free toothbrush that generates its own electricity to help kill plaque-causing bacteria as you clean.

Even with scrupulous oral health habits, traditional toothbrushes can still leave some potentially cavity-causing bacteria behind. And regardless of how well you brush before going to bed, by the time morning comes, bacteria have already built back up.

To try to give us better protection, Yanhui Lu at the Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology and colleagues thought that using electricity right in the bristles could bridge that gap. That idea is not entirely new, but what they have done is build it directly into a conventional toothbrush using special materials that power themselves as you scrub. Details of their innovation are in a paper published in the journal Science Advances.

To make a brush that produces its own electricity, the team first had to find the right material. They settled on a smart plastic called PVDF, which generates tiny electrical charges every time it bends and flexes.

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