Battery-free dental brace reveals critical health data via smartphone

The human mouth contains a wealth of information about general health. From body temperature to head and jaw movements during sleep, this data can be essential to understanding health conditions and dental problems. However, collecting such data is often laborious and inconvenient.

Researchers from TU Delft, in collaboration with Radboudumc, have developed a new technology: Densor, a battery-free sensor platform that can be worn in the mouth via a standard dental brace or “bite brace”.

This innovative open source technology enables safe and user-friendly long-term oral measurements. Uniquely, it requires no additional hardware – just a smartphone to charge and read data. The user study was published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies.

“Densor is more than just a technological innovation; it is a step towards affordable and inclusive health monitoring. By making the design open source – both hardware and software – we aim to enable experts in fields such as dentistry and research sleepers worldwide to implement technology in various ways,” says Przemysław Pawełczak, associate professor of Embedded Systems at TU Delft.

Flexible applications and new ideas

The technology has the potential to support a wide range of applications, including sleep research, diagnosing apnea and dental caries, and monitoring treatment adherence. Densor not only allows precise measurement of jaw and head movements, but also differentiates speech, swallowing and drinking. This makes it more accurate and user-friendly than traditional methods such as ear-worn accelerometers.

“The ability to collect real-time, long-term data in the mouth with a user-friendly device is truly innovative. It opens the doors to new preventive and diagnostic possibilities in areas such as nutrition, dental wear or acid reflux.” comments Bas Loomans, Dentist and Professor of Oral Function and Restorative Dentistry at Radboudumc.

Researchers are currently working on expanding the platform with additional sensors and integrated data processing, unlocking even more possibilities. Future developments include detecting acid reflux and monitoring saliva production. The team is also focusing on enabling faster and more extensive metrics, making the platform applicable across industries.