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James Dyson has a $15 billion net worth, a knighthood, a winery and a serious grudge against his dental hygienist. “She always gets out the pickaxe and starts hacking away bits of hardened plaque,” he told the Wall Street Journal. But after six years of tinkering, he thinks he’s built the fix.
The Dyson CameraJet, unveiled this week, is the company’s first oral care product. A tiny camera on the brush head scans teeth 28 times a second, spotting gaps and firing a burst of mouthrinse to floss them on the spot. It’s a strange pivot for a company built on vacuums and hair dryers. This time, Dyson and his engineers had to figure out how to control liquid instead.
The toothbrush costs $499, needs a special nonfoaming Dyson toothpaste, and hits Sephora, Best Buy and Amazon in September.
Dyson didn’t plan much for his latest invention. “I had no idea of the market size, and I’ve got no idea how many we’ll sell,” he said. “We don’t really structure things on a business plan.” That’s roughly how he’s operated since his 30s, when he went into debt cycling through 5,127 prototypes to build his first bagless vacuum.