内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2025/grin-and-gadget-can-a-startups-120-electric-flosser-finally-change-my-dental-habits/

内容总结：

【口腔护理新趋势？电动冲牙器能否替代传统牙线？】
多年来，牙医和洁牙师们反复提醒笔者："你的牙线使用方式有待改进。"直到接触初创公司Slate及其电动冲牙器产品，才让笔者真正开始反思日常洁牙习惯的改变。

Slate公司联合创始人兼CEO布琳·麦克伦南坦言："你不是一个人。大多数人根本不用牙线，而使用牙线的人中多数方法错误——这正是我们开发产品的初衷。"这家位于华盛顿斯波坎市的企业由产品设计师麦克伦南与其前夫丹尼·斯奈德（牙医兼发明爱好者）于2019年共同创立，2020年获专利，2022年11月正式上市，2023年销售额突破100万美元。

Slate电动冲牙器外形酷似声波牙刷，顶部配备三档震动频率的刷头及专利设计"牙龈清洁三角片"。麦克伦南强调："这些可深入齿龈交界处的三角片是产品核心优势，配合声波震动能有效按摩牙龈、清除牙菌斑。"据公司数据，试用该产品的牙医中95%表示会推荐给患者，74%认为其牙龈刺激效果优于市面现有工具。

实际体验中，笔者发现产品操作便捷性显著优于传统牙线，清洁过程无痛感且无出血现象。但专业洁牙师肯德拉·塞达纳在试用后指出："震动虽能刺激牙龈，但无法替代物理摩擦的清洁效果。传统牙线通过特定手法能更彻底清洁齿缝和龈下区域。"她认为，该产品优于完全不使用牙线，但对彻底预防龋齿而言，传统方法仍更有效。

目前Slate冲牙器售价119美元，替换刷头（含舌刮功能）20只装25美元。麦克伦南透露，受特朗普关税政策影响，产品即将涨价，同时正与某知名零售商洽谈渠道合作。未来公司还计划开发与苹果手表等智能穿戴设备联动的软件功能。

尽管科技为口腔护理带来新选择，专业牙医仍提醒：彻底清洁离不开规范的手动操作。或许正如洁牙师戏言："真正理想的解决方案，或许是每晚准时现身卫生间的AI机械臂——拿着最普通的牙线。"

中文翻译：

大半辈子以来，牙医和洗牙师总提醒我使用牙线时还有改进空间。直到我采访了一位初创企业创始人并体验了其独特产品后，才真正开始考虑改变习惯。

"并非只有您这样，"布琳·麦克伦南表示，"大多数人根本不用牙线，而使用牙线的人多数方法也不正确。这正是我们研发这款产品的初衷。"作为斯波坎电动牙线器制造商Slate的联合创始人兼CEO，麦克伦南具有产品设计背景，其前夫兼联合创始人丹尼·斯奈德恰巧是牙医兼发明家。

他们2019年启动项目，2020年获得专利，2021年在Kickstarter众筹，2022年11月正式上市，2023年实现百万美元销售额。根据SEC文件显示，这家此前获得80万美元种子轮融资的公司，近期又完成了175万美元的第二轮种子融资。

麦克伦南透露，首批产品曾寄送500台给洗牙师、200台给牙医，收到95%的回复者表示会向患者推荐，74%认为其在牙龈按摩方面优于市面任何工具。"获得这些数据后，我确信值得全力投入。"这位养育五个孩子的母亲如今独立运营着初创企业。

这款形似飞利浦 Sonicare 电动牙刷的设备配备三档振动频率的牙线头，其独创的"牙龈清洁片"是最大亮点。麦克伦南解释道："这些三角形清洁片是获得专利的全新设计，能深入牙龈与牙齿接合处，通过声波振动按摩牙龈并清除牙菌斑。"

作为长期使用传统牙线且定期接受洁牙的人，我试用发现Slate确实比缠绕指间的牙线更便捷。能感受到清洁片在牙基与牙龈线间工作，无痛感也不引发出血——虽然出血可能源于我日常清洁频率不足。

Slate建议每周更换多彩牙线头，其背面兼作刮舌器以清除更多细菌。我家青少年子女开始使用刮舌器，看来TikTok已将其塑造成新潮流。

我将设备带给洗牙师肯德拉·塞达纳检验。拥有四年从业经验的她虽未见过此产品，但承认其"很酷"的外观可能促进用户培养清洁习惯。她亲自试用后指出："振动能刺激牙龈，但无法清除牙菌斑，仍需人工刷洗动作。"她演示了传统牙线的六步清洁法，强调传统方式对牙缝及牙龈线下清洁更有效，但认为电动牙线器"至少能清洁牙齿接合面这个蛀牙发源地，聊胜于无"。

我们笑谈或许该发明AI人形机器人每晚持传统牙线为用户服务。除硬件创新外，麦克伦南还计划开发与苹果手表、Oura戒指等智能穿戴设备联动的软件功能。

目前Slate牙线器零售价119美元，20支装替换头25美元，可通过直营、亚马逊及牙科诊所购买。对比沃尔玛售价10美元的三支装欧乐B牙线，麦克伦南表示受特朗普关税政策影响，在中国、台湾和菲律宾生产的产品可能即将涨价，并透露正与某知名零售商洽谈合作事宜。

英文来源：

I’ve been told by dentists and dental hygienists for the better part of my life that I could do a better job of flossing my teeth. It took an interview with a startup founder and the chance to try a unique product for me to finally consider a real change in habits.
“You’re not alone,” said Brynn MacLennan. “Most people do not floss at all, and those that do mostly do it incorrectly. And that’s why we invented our product.”
MacLennan is co-founder and CEO of Slate, a Spokane, Wash.-based maker of an electric flosser.
MacLennan has a background as a product designer, and her co-founder and ex-husband Danny Snyder just happens to be a dentist and would-be inventor.
They started working on Slate in 2019, got a patent in 2020, launched a Kickstarter in 2021, and started selling product in November 2022. In 2023, they made $1 million in sales.
Slate, which previously raised $800,000 in seed funding, recently raised another $1.75 million in a second seed round, according to an SEC filing.
MacLennan said when she and Snyder first built Slate, they sent 500 to hygienists and 200 to dentists. They heard back from 95% of them who said they’d recommend the flosser to their patients, and 74% who said it was better than any tool on the market at stimulating the gums.
“When I got that data, I was like, ‘OK we can invest our energy in this,” said MacLennan, a mother of five who now runs the startup on her own.
The device looks and handles like an electric toothbrush, similar to Sonicare. The floss head at the top vibrates at three different speeds and features what Slate calls “Gum Sweeps.”
“That’s what makes our product better than anything else,” MacLennan said of the Sweeps. “These little triangles are what dentists would call an ‘interdental brush’ or ‘gum brush.’ We call them Gum Sweeps because they’re a new design, and we invented them, and this is what’s patented on our product.”
The little triangles on either end of the floss are designed to go where your gums and teeth touch, and sonic vibrations from the flosser massage your gums and disrupt plaque.
I use a Sonicare and have been using string floss and pick-style floss to varying degrees of success for years. I get dinged by my hygienist during cleanings every six months, and each time I leave I resolve to do a better job of staying on top of flossing.
After an initial test drive, the Slate flosser is certainly easier to use than wrapping string around my fingers. I could feel the Gum Sweeps working their way between the base of my teeth and vibrating against the gum line. It didn’t hurt, and I didn’t bleed the way I sometimes do after traditional flossing. Although, I might be bleeding because I’m not flossing regularly enough.
Slate recommends that the floss heads — available in a variety of colors — be changed every week. The reverse side of the head also doubles as a tongue scraper, apparently to remove even more bacteria. My teenager uses a tongue scraper, which means someone on TikTok has decided tongue scrapers are a thing now.
I took the flosser with me to my six-month dental checkup to show it off to my hygienist and get her opinion about whether such a device is worthwhile.
Kendra Cedana has been cleaning teeth for four years. She hadn’t previously seen or used a Slate flosser, but admitted that the device looked “cool” and that that can sometimes be all it takes for people to get into habits they may otherwise avoid.
Cedana watched how I used the flosser and then took her own turn using it on my teeth.
“The vibration is stimulating the gum, but it’s not dislodging any of the plaque,” Cedana said. “You have to still do the physical work of scrub, scrub, scrub.”
Cedana demonstrated with a regular piece of string floss the technique that she would normally use, and it involved six distinct moves that cleaned the sides of my teeth as well as below the gum line.
“Overall, I think manual, traditional flossing is going to be more effective,” Cedana said. “I would say [the Slate flosser] is better than nothing, because at least something’s getting through to the contact spot where the teeth come together, where cavities really start.”
We agreed that a humanoid robot powered by AI that comes to my bathroom every night — armed with regular old floss — is something that Cedana should invent.
Along with her hardware ambitions, MacLennan would love to innovate some software functions into the flosser, including the ability to communicate applicable data with high-tech wearables such as the Apple Watch or Oura Ring.
The Slate flosser retails for $119 and a box of 20 floss heads is $25, available direct-to-consumer, on Amazon, and through some dental offices. A three-pack of Oral-B Glide Deep Clean Cool Mint Dental Floss is $10 at Walmart.
MacLennan said the price of her device, manufactured at factories in China, Taiwan and the Philippines, is likely to go up soon due to President Trump’s tariff policies.
She also added that the product should be coming to a “popular retailer” soon, thanks to a deal that’s in the works with a company she could not yet name.