• by Les Luchter , March 11, 2025

Problem: getting kids 5-13 to brush their teeth thoroughly and consistently.

Solution: a fully automated toothbrush containing a mouthguard-shaped device. Kids put it in their mouths, push a button, and the toothbrush takes over from there, with parents able to verify their kids’ brushing through an app.

Willo AutoFlow+, the name of this toothbrushing system that launched in December, has so far been selling its product benefits to parents through influencer marketing and press placements.

The media coverage has included a positive piece in PCMag, which named the Willo one of the top health/fitness products at this year’s CES, and a negative one in CNET, whose reporter called the mouthguard-shaped device a “horse-bit thing,” declaring the Willo to be “like an espresso machine, but instead it's your child's face.”

The social media influencers, of course, have been much kinder.

In an Instagram post by one of them, @4KidsCallMeDad runs down some of the Willo’s benefits while his son Bryson tries out the product:

• “At the push of a button, Willo automatically dispenses the perfect amount of toothpaste” 
• “A little timer shows how long it [brushing] takes”
• It “uses continuous suction to remove any liquid throughout the brushing, which creates a smooth, mess-free routine”
• “I even get push notifications when he brushes his teeth.”

This influencer, aka Jason Eady, has 125,000 followers, while another of Willo’s influencer partners, the more tech-focused @CodyWestonAndrew, boasts 316,000 of them. Andrew’s Willo post focuses on how his son resisted brushing his teeth until Willo arrived, and provides an additional product benefit: Willo “removes seven times more plaque in hard-to-reach areas."

Willo CEO Dave Fox tells Marketing Daily that the product differs from other toothbrushes for kids, such as those from Philips Sonicare and Procter & Gamble’s Oral-B, because “unlike other toothbrushes that were adapted from their adult version parent product, Willo was developed for kids and tested extensively with kids and pediatric dentists.”

Tackling a common kids’ problem of improperly positioning toothbrush bristles along their gumlines, Willo uses “over 34,000 soft bristles positioned at a 30-degree angle to sweep gently along the gumline while moving back and forth for one minute for the top teeth and one minute for the bottom teeth," says Fox, a 20-year oral care veteran at such firms as DenTek and Church & Dwight. A visual pacer instructs the child when to flip the brush head to brush the remaining teeth.

Willo is now being sold at the brand’s own website, with pricing at $149 for a starter kit, which includes a choice of toothpaste in bubblegum, strawberry or mint flavors. After that, toothpaste refills are available at about $7 for a month’s supply.

Yes, special toothpaste is required, something else that distinguishes Willo from other kids’ brushing systems. It’s necessary, Fox says, due to “the innovative design” of Willo’s device, which requires the “right viscosity” for the toothpaste to be delivered with water from the base to the brush head.

In addition to influencers and press, Willo is focusing its outreach effort right now on pediatric dentists, who Fox calls the “most trusted advisors when it comes to kids’ oral health. By gaining their trust and support, we aim to create a ripple effect that transforms how families approach oral care.

Fox says Amazon will soon join Willo.com in selling the product.