- The following is content from the press release -
Lion Corporation (President and CEO: Seiyuki Takemori) has launched the oral care program "Okuchiiku" on its dedicated e-commerce site in April 2023 to help children develop proper teeth brushing habits and a foundation for good dentition in accordance with their growth stage.
The first product is "Okuchi Ikuiku Chew Motto!" for children between 6 and 12 years old, who are in the period of changing teeth, when it is important to "build the foundation of their dentition". The first product is "Okuchi Ikiku Chew Motto! This product is designed to address the "children's tooth flap" problem that many parents worry about.
Click here to read the development story
https://prtimes.jp/story/detail/Mxz4G1hLOeb
And now the second one, sold in June 2024.Backdoor Education Maho ToothbrushThe system is designed to help children learn toothbrushing skills while having fun, just like playing a game. By linking the toothbrush port with a dedicated smartphone application, the system aims to help children acquire toothbrushing skills while having fun as if it were a game.
Lion has a history of more than 120 years in the oral care business and has long been involved in creating a habit of tooth brushing. Maho Habrushi" is not just an IoT product that links tooth brushing with a smartphone, but a service that was developed with the idea of making it easier for children to get into the habit of brushing their teeth, by utilizing Lion's experience. In this issue, we would like to introduce the thoughts of the developers of such a product.
What is the correct way to teach tooth brushing from parents to their children?
The Beginning of the Maho Toothbrush
According to a school health survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2022, the national average number of carious teeth in children (12 years old) today is less than one tooth (0.56), indicating that parents are highly aware of oral care. Kaneshima says that he is hearing more and more concerns from parents that they "don't know how to teach proper tooth brushing," "don't know when to stop brushing," and "don't know if they are brushing their teeth properly.
Kanejima: When I look back on my own child-rearing experience, there were times when I had trouble teaching my children how to brush their teeth properly. I had taught my children the importance of brushing their teeth from the time they were young, but when they were old enough to do it on their own, they just put the toothbrush in their mouths and chewed on it, not brushing their teeth at all. I realized that I had not taught them how to brush their teeth properly.
We thought that many parents might have similar problems, and this was the beginning of our product creation.
What kind of service would be best to enable children to brush their teeth properly by themselves? After repeated discussions within the team, we decided to focus on the cycle of "learning, awareness, and retention," which is a child's learning method.
This led to the development of three products: a smartphone app to learn how to brush properly, a staining gel to visibly notice unbrushed areas, and a toothbrush port that encourages proper brushing order through tooth brushing practice accompanied by voice guidance.
Painful tooth brushing time becomes a new communication opportunity for parents and children
Devising application games that allow children to proceed independently
In developing this product, there is one more thing we wanted to emphasize. That is how parents and children spend tooth brushing time. Infants are reluctant to brush their teeth because of the discomfort of having their mouths touched, and young children are reluctant because they have many other things they want to do besides brushing their teeth. Even school-age children, who can brush their teeth on their own, brush their teeth formally to avoid anger from their parents. In other words, tooth brushing time is an uncomfortable time for children of all ages, and a painful time for parents who have to say, "Brush your teeth! This is a painful time for parents as well. Suzuki thought it would be a good idea to make this painful time a little easier for parents, and if possible, to turn it into an enjoyable time for communicating with their children.
Suzuki: The "Maho Haburashi" application is designed so that the child becomes the main character and progresses through the stages, so that he or she can review the changes in scores each time by himself or herself. We tried to create a design that motivates the child to understand what he or she has learned through repeated practice and quizzes, and to feel the growth of the child himself or herself. We hope that the time spent brushing teeth, which used to be a stressful time, will become an enjoyable time with the child.
Dyeing gel that gives children "awareness" and focuses on coloration
The "Maho Habrashi" app helps children learn how to brush their teeth properly and acquire knowledge about tooth brushing naturally by answering periodic quizzes. In addition to the knowledge, children can visually check whether they are really brushing their teeth by using a gel that is dyed once a week, so that they can check whether they have acquired tooth brushing skills.
Nagamori: Since the "Maho Habrashi" staining gel is used by children once a week on a regular basis, we wanted to make a product that they can look forward to that day. There are gel, liquid, and tablet forms of the stain-dyeing agent, but we selected a gel form that is easy to use after having children actually experience it. We saw that the more vividly the plaque was stained when used, the more pleased the children were with the product. We repeated trial runs of the product, focusing first and foremost on its ability to stain plaque so that the children would be able to recognize areas left unbrushed. The gel had the lowest staining property among the three forms, so it was very difficult to select raw materials and adjust the concentration. Another issue was that increasing stainability would increase the risk of staining on washcloths and clothing during use. Since we have extensive knowledge in the development of detergents for clothing and household use, we sought the cooperation of these laboratories across different fields and verified the results under various usage environments to confront this issue as well.
Why are we working on IoT devices even though we are a commodity manufacturer?
A toothbrush port that blends into daily life and helps proper brushing become "ingrained" in your life.
Hayashida, who was assigned to develop the toothbrush port, had been in charge of product development for cosmetics and toothbrushes since joining the company. Therefore, this was his first experience in developing electronic devices. Since there was little knowledge of electronic devices within Lion, he set up a system for quality evaluation by a third-party organization in addition to in-house evaluations, and tried to create products with safety in mind. In terms of functionality, what we valued above all else was the ease of use of the toothbrush port with voice guidance. People face a high hurdle in introducing a completely new plus-one behavior into their daily lives. To overcome this hurdle, we thought it was necessary to make the new habit of "practicing tooth brushing in accordance with voice guidance" become an integral part of everyday tooth brushing behavior. Hayashida says that the development of this product was a different challenge from the development of toothbrushes and other products whose use had already become a habit.
Hayashida: The "toothbrush port" plays a role in establishing proper tooth brushing. We thought that in order for this to take root, it was necessary to repeatedly practice and remember the order in which to brush the teeth, which was learned through the application. To this end, we tried to create a product that is easy to use in all situations of daily life, and thought, "What if you just pull out the toothbrush from the toothbrush stand and it plays an audio guidance of the order to brush your teeth without any special preparation? We came up with this idea. We thought that alternating between Haburashiport, which provides only auditory information (voice), and an app that provides both visual (screen) and auditory (voice) information, would improve learning efficiency, so we decided to develop Haburashiport, which only plays voice guidance. We also focused on light music so that children would enjoy working with it.
Hayashida: The design of the toothbrush holder is such that when the toothbrush is pulled out of the toothbrush port, the sensor detects it and automatically plays an audible sound. The slanted shape of the toothbrush holder makes it easier for children, whose arms are lower than those of adults, to pull out the toothbrush by tilting the toothbrush toward them. We actually created many prototypes while utilizing a 3D printer, and arrived at this shape through repeated trial and error.
Creating products that encourage the growth of children's "zest for life
Toward a new oral care routine
Lion launched Japan's first toothpaste for children 112 years ago, and since then, we have been developing innovative and functional products for children every day, such as toothbrushes with bendable handles and toothpastes containing fluoride. We have also been making efforts to promote oral care for children, and this year marks the 81st anniversary of the toothbrushing contest that we have hosted since 1932. We will continue to develop better products and promote oral care activities, as well as provide products and services such as "Okuchiiku" that make tooth brushing fun, help children develop oral care habits, and encourage children's "zest for life" in various ways in the future. We will continue to develop and promote oral care activities.
Profile
Daisuke Kaneshima
After working in R&D, product planning, and new business development for pharmaceuticals and functional foods
He is in charge of business promotion leader of Okuchiiku at Oral Health Development Department.
Ritsuhiro Suzuki
After working in R&D and product planning for cosmetics and quasi-drugs, and basic research in dermatology,
Responsible for product planning of oral health education at Oral Care Division and Oral Health Development Department.
Asuka Nagamori
After working on research and development of kitchen detergents at the Living Care Research Institute, he was in charge of research and development of toothpaste products at the Oral Care Research Institute. In this product, he was in charge of the product development of Okuchi Ikumi Hashigaki Step Gel.
Sakuho Hayashida
After working in cosmetics development at the Global Development Center, he was in charge of research and development of toothbrushes and tools. In this product, he was in charge of the product development of Okuchi Ikuko Habrashi-Port.
Backyard Education Brand Site
https://okuchi-iku.lion.co.jp
Release of "Maho Habrushi" product for raising children's mouths.
https://www.lion.co.jp/ja/news/2024/4639
