CleanOS on disrupting dentistry, perfecting prototypes, and delivering life-changing oral hygiene

Whether you’re a dedicated daily flosser or ignore your teeth until there’s a problem, you probably like the sound of a device that cleans your teeth perfectly in just 30 seconds.?

Clean OS founding team Giovanni Tuccari, Pietro Pastore, and Francesco Anzalone are building a new kind of electric toothbrush that enables anyone to feel like they’ve just stepped out of the hygienist’s office every time they brush their teeth.?

We sat down with the team to talk about the importance of personalized medtech, swapping the dentist’s drill for the founder’s laptop, and how Clean OS could change how people think about preventative dental care.?

Where did the idea for Clean OS come from??

Pietro: Prevention is key to human health and taking care of your teeth and mouth is not just good for your oral health, but for the entire body.?

I’m a dentist and in my daily practice, I see many patients who suffer from gum disease. They leave the practice really motivated to keep their teeth clean but over the course of a few months, they slip back into old routines.?

So I wanted to create a tool that could have a positive impact on people’s lives and could enable them to have a healthier lifestyle more easily. Our product is designed to fully automate tooth brushing, eliminating the risks of human error—whether you're rushing before work, tired before bed, or distracted while scrolling through Instagram

Can you explain how it works??

Giovanni: So the person has one handle and two arches, one for the upper teeth, one for the lower teeth. The base is an arch shape and we mount our modules on it.?

The frontal module covers canines and incisors. Its translational vibration movement gets in between the teeth. And then you've got six modules that have this U-shape and rotate on its axis which kind of hugs the tooth.

That makes sure the bristles go through the interdental spaces and close to the gum margin. We’re testing it right now and we’re very close to our goal of 95% plaque removal on 90% of mouths.?

And you can customize it to each person’s mouth, right??

Giovanni: Yes. Our hypothesis in terms of product performance is that if we customize something we can be sure that it's effective.?

In different med tech or healthcare streams right now, personalizing treatments and devices is becoming the norm because we are too different from one another to have effective off-the-shelf solutions.?

And Pietro, what’s the reaction when you talk about this with your fellow dentists??

Pietro: Both colleagues and patients are surprised at first because it’s something completely new, but at the same time, everyone tells me, “When is it launching? I want to buy one.”

Clean OS could truly solve fundamental oral problems. Patients are happy it will make their routine fast, reliable, and more efficient. And colleagues are happy because they know patients aren’t constant in their routines. We’re promising a way of ensuring consistent dental hygiene.?

Don’t forget that 80% of oral disease can be prevented with good oral hygiene.?

What’s your main goal over these 12 weeks at Techstars??

Giovanni: Finalizing our prototype and then, commercially, getting a critical mass of people signed up for a waitlist. That would be ideal. (Sign up here.)

From January onwards, we will concentrate on translating our prototype into an industrial product.

Francesco, you’re handling the prototyping and product development?

Francesco: Yeah, I'm in charge of R&D and product development. Right now, we’re mostly 3D printing all our components, so that we can quickly iterate on our patients’ feedback.

At the same time, I’m also working on translating this to an industrial product so I’m talking with manufacturers and figuring out the supply chain. I’m confident about where things are heading right now.?

How does it feel to be entering the healthcare market right now??

Giovanni: I think we’re at a good moment in history to launch a prevention tool. The mindset about health is changing. People want to have more control and have an eye on the future. But we need to be really, really good at speaking to that target market of people who care about preventative health. If we pull it off and create some kind of traction, I think it can be a truly revolutionary product.

What has surprised you about the founding journey??

Francesco: When I was an employee, I thought the work problems I had were big. And now, founding a company has really changed that perspective.

These days, I think, okay, I work a lot, but for something that I really want to do, that I want to create. That change is huge.?

Pietro: I’m used to seeing patients all day long so to be in an office in front of a laptop was a bit of a shock. It’s a completely different kind of work. I’m also used to knowing everything I need to do and to trusting my expertise.?

As a founder, you’re changing a lot and testing everything and trying new things. So it was out of my comfort zone but I’ve learned that you don’t have to know everything right away to create something great.?

Giovanni: I have an entrepreneurial business background so I expected a lot of what we come up against every day. But I’m still learning something new everyday. For example, right now I’m really eager to test our marketing which I think it’s going to be a really fascinating journey.?

Awesome. Well, we can all look forward to perfectly clean teeth in the not-too-distant future. Best of luck, Clean OS!