Tech Trends: A look into the latest dental and general technology on the market

Chrome OS Flex (free, Google)

Many homes and businesses have a collection of outdated computers. These machines, once powerful sources for gaming and productivity, have relatively little use or purpose once software and support have reached the end of life. Google is breathing new life into these desktops and laptops with Chrome OS Flex, a cloudbased operating system that brings modern and secure features to obsolete hardware.

Chrome OS Flex can be installed on Mac and PC computers. Google maintains a certified list of hardware models that this operating system is expected to work on. To get started, users install and launch the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension on the Chrome browser of a current device, which will prompt the creation of a USB installer. The USB installer is then inserted into the legacy device and powered on. Chrome OS Flex will boot from the USB drive and give users the experience of temporarily running the operating system on the legacy device. As with all other Chrome OS devices, Chrome OS Flex requires a Google account to sign in and use the device. Once signed in, users are presented with the standard Chrome OS desktop that is familiar to all Chromebook users. Because the operating system is web based, everything is accessed through the Chrome web browser, which includes productivity app suites such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and more. When there are security updates to the browser or operating system, they are automatically downloaded and installed during the next restart. When users are comfortable with Chrome OS Flex, they can have it permanently installed on their machine by selecting the install option at the sign-in screen, which will erase all data on the legacy device. There are limitations with Chrome OS Flex. For example, users cannot install Google Play or Android apps. There is also limited support for peripherals and devicespecific hardware including biometric scanners, pen inputs, disk drives and proprietary connectors and docks.

— Hubert Chan, DDS

Bebird C3 Wireless Otoscope ($39.99, Bebird)

Most practitioners are familiar with grainy, unfocused pictures and videos sent from concerned family and friends about something going on in their mouths. While demand for teledentistry has grown by leaps and bounds during the pandemic, picture quality has not improved much, as cellphones and webcams are still our patients’ primary ways of visually conveying their issues. Otoscopes are not ideal devices either, but their ability to focus on small objects over very short distances is a desired property for teledentistry applications. In recent years, consumer-grade otoscopes have flooded the market, often priced under $30. For patients who have hardships getting to their providers, such as the elderly in care facilities, the severely immunocompromised or those with limited access to providers, would having an affordable wireless otoscope like the Bebird C3 help them better convey their needs?

The Bebird C3 is not the most intuitive device to use. It requires downloading an app, connecting a mobile device to the Bebird’s Wi-Fi, then going back to the main menu to see what the camera is displaying. The Bebird can focus on objects from about 3 inches away to as close as 1 centimeter away. There are occasional latency issues where the display on the paired mobile device requires two to three seconds to catch up to where the Bebird is pointed. Though the camera boasts a 3-megapixel resolution, the images are grainy and teeth are washed out, but great detail on the tooth surfaces can be seen. Pictures and videos are saved to the app, which can then be exported to a mobile device’s gallery for sharing. Bebird does make a product dedicated for the mouth (Bebird W3), but its model lines are unclear and difficult to discern. For the price, the Bebird C3 is an improvement over cellphone pictures of the oral cavity and can be a tool for practitioners to more closely evaluate their patients in teledentistry situations.

— Alexander Lee, DMD