A Homemade Automatic Toothbrush

The thing about Parkinson’s disease that mostly puts me down is the uncontrollable shaking of my head, neck and shoulders, which upsets me physically but mostly mentally.

When the shaking is at its highest level on the “Richter Scale” even the simplest daily activities become difficult and complicated. So I constantly have to invent new ways to resolve problems and think up new ideas to get things done.

When for example I brush my teeth the usual method of brushing them does not work. I am obliged to put into action a series of maneuvers that would make an army officer go pale in his face.

The first thing I have to do is to get a firm grip on the toothpaste tube with my right hand and with my left hand unscrew the cap. Once that is done, my concentration must be at its highest level because now comes the tricky part. I must synchronize the timing between one shake and the other. In a fraction of a second I must be quick to put the point of the tube in my mouth and get a strong hold with my front teeth, so that the tube is secured. If I fail my incredible efforts to get to this point are useless and frustrating.

I next squeeze the tube applying not too much strength or else I will land up with a mouthful of tooth paste. I then wet the toothbrush and put it in my mouth. Now I must not move my arm backwards and forwards as one would normally do. The aim here is to keep the toothbrush still and the head shaking will do the rest. Like an electric toothbrush, all the movements up and down side to side are guaranteed, my head moves in a regular way. So my shaking head does quite a good job of getting my teeth clean. The advantage compared to an electric toothbrush is that electric brushes require a regular change of batteries, where my moving head recharges itself.

So I can call this a cheap electric homemade toothbrush that works perfectly well.