Smarter Oral Care with Home Assistant: Exploring the Oral-B Integration

Smart homes aren’t just about lights, heating, and security anymore. Increasingly, everyday devices are becoming connected—and that includes something as routine as brushing your teeth. If you own a compatible Oral-B toothbrush, the Home Assistant Oral-B integration opens up some surprisingly useful (and even fun) automation possibilities.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the Oral-B integration in Home Assistant, explain the available components, and explore how you can use this data to build practical automations.

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What is the Oral-B Integration?

The Oral-B integration allows Home Assistant to connect with Bluetooth-enabled Oral-B toothbrushes. It reads real-time and historical data from your toothbrush, such as brushing duration, pressure, and mode.

The integration works locally via Bluetooth, which means:

• No cloud dependency
• Fast updates
• Better privacy

To use it, you’ll need:

• A compatible Oral-B toothbrush with Bluetooth support
• A Bluetooth adapter on your Home Assistant system (internal or USB)

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Available Entities and Components

Once set up, the integration creates several entities in Home Assistant. These may vary slightly depending on your toothbrush model, but typically include:

1. Sensors

These provide measurable data:

• Brushing Time (sensor.toothbrush_brushing_time)
  Shows how long you’ve brushed during the current or last session.
• Pressure Sensor (binary_sensor.toothbrush_pressure)
  Indicates whether you’re pressing too hard.
• Battery Level (sensor.toothbrush_battery)
  Displays the current battery percentage.
• Mode Sensor (sensor.toothbrush_mode)
  Shows the brushing mode (e.g., Daily Clean, Sensitive, Whitening).

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2. Binary Sensors

Binary sensors represent states like ON/OFF:

• Brushing Active (binary_sensor.toothbrush_running)
  Indicates whether brushing is currently in progress.
• Pressure Warning
  Helps identify if brushing technique needs improvement.

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3. Device Tracking (Indirect Use)

While not a GPS tracker, the toothbrush’s Bluetooth presence can act as a rough presence indicator—useful for bathroom-related automations.

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Why Use Toothbrush Data?

At first glance, integrating a toothbrush might seem unnecessary. But when you think about routines and habits, it becomes quite powerful.

Here are some use cases:

• Encourage better brushing habits for kids
• Trigger routines when your day starts or ends
• Monitor consistency over time
• Integrate with lighting or audio feedback

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Example Automation: Smart Bathroom Routine

Let’s start with a practical automation: when brushing starts, turn on the bathroom lights and play music. When brushing stops, turn everything off.

YAML Automation Example

alias: "Toothbrush Routine"
description: "Turn on lights and music when brushing starts"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.toothbrush_running
    to: "on"

action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.bathroom
    data:
      brightness_pct: 80

  - service: media_player.play_media
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.bathroom_speaker
    data:
      media_content_id: "http://stream.live.vc.bbcmedia.co.uk/bbc_radio_one"
      media_content_type: "music"

mode: single

And the “stop” automation:

alias: "Toothbrush Routine End"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.toothbrush_running
    to: "off"

action:
  - service: light.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: light.bathroom

  - service: media_player.turn_off
    target:
      entity_id: media_player.bathroom_speaker

mode: single

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Example Automation: Encourage Better Brushing

Dentists recommend brushing for at least 2 minutes. Let’s create an automation that sends a notification if brushing time is too short.

alias: "Short Brushing Alert"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.toothbrush_running
    to: "off"

condition:
  - condition: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.toothbrush_brushing_time
    below: 120

action:
  - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
    data:
      message: "You brushed for less than 2 minutes. Try a bit longer next time!"

mode: single

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Example Automation: Kid-Friendly Rewards

If you have children, this is where things get fun. You can gamify brushing habits.

For example:

• Track brushing streaks
• Reward consistent brushing with extra screen time
• Change LED colors when brushing is done properly

Here’s a simple example where a light turns green if brushing exceeds 2 minutes:

alias: "Brushing Success Indicator"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.toothbrush_running
    to: "off"

condition:
  - condition: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.toothbrush_brushing_time
    above: 120

action:
  - service: light.turn_on
    target:
      entity_id: light.bathroom_led
    data:
      color_name: "green"
      brightness_pct: 100

mode: single

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Example Automation: Pressure Warning

Brushing too hard can damage gums. If your toothbrush supports pressure detection, you can act on it:

alias: "Toothbrush Pressure Warning"
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.toothbrush_pressure
    to: "on"

action:
  - service: notify.mobile_app_phone
    data:
      message: "You're brushing too hard! Ease up to protect your gums."

mode: single

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Tips for Getting the Most Out of It

To make the most of the Oral-B integration:

• Place your Home Assistant Bluetooth adapter close to the bathroom for stable connectivity
• Use ESPHome Bluetooth proxies if your server is far away
• Combine toothbrush data with time-based automations (morning/evening routines)
• Log brushing data in Home Assistant’s history for insights over time

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Privacy and Local Control

One of the best parts of this integration is that it works locally. No need to rely on third-party apps or cloud services. Your brushing data stays within your Home Assistant setup.

This aligns well with a privacy-focused smart home philosophy.

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Final Thoughts

The Oral-B integration might not be the most obvious addition to your smart home, but it’s a great example of how even small data points can enhance daily routines.

Whether you’re building healthy habits, automating your bathroom experience, or just experimenting with creative automations, this integration adds a unique and personal touch to Home Assistant.

And let’s be honest—if your toothbrush can trigger automations, you’re definitely living in the future.