Abstract: An oral care device (10) assesses a health parameter of gingival tissue of a user by means of a force-generating module (52) to apply a momentary force to the gingival tissue by applying a burst of compressed air or a burst of liquid to the gingival tissue, a sensor (28) to obtain a plurality of optical signals from the gingival tissue over time after the momentary force has been applied, a controller (30) to quantify, based at least in part on an analysis of the plurality of optical signals, the health parameter (e.g. inflammation of the gingival tissue), wherein the health parameter is based at least in part on an amount of time the gingival tissue takes to recover to the application of force; and a feedback module (46) to provide information to the user regarding the quantified health parameter.

Abstract: A method (700) for localizing inflammation within a user's mouth using an oral care device (10), comprising the steps of: (i) emitting (720) light by one or more light emitters (42) of the oral care device; (ii) detecting (730), by a light detector (40) of the oral care device, reflectance from a surface at each of a plurality of locations within the user's mouth to generate reflectance data for each of the plurality of locations; (iii) determining (750), by the controller, for the plurality of locations, whether gingiva at that location is inflamed; and (iv) providing (760), via a user interface (46) of the oral care device, information to the user regarding the inflamed location or locations.

Abstract: An oral care device (10) assesses a health parameter of gingival tissue of a user by means of a force-generating module (52) to apply a momentary force to the gingival tissue by applying a burst of compressed air or a burst of liquid to the gingival tissue, a sensor (28) to obtain a plurality of optical signals from the gingival tissue over time after the momentary force has been applied, a controller (30) to quantify, based at least in part on an analysis of the plurality of optical signals, the health parameter (e.g. inflammation of the gingival tissue), wherein the health parameter is based at least in part on an amount of time the gingival tissue takes to recover to the application of force; and a feedback module (46) to provide information to the user regarding the quantified health parameter.