Suri redesigns electric toothbrush with sustainability and manufacturability in mind

AI-generated summary

Suri’s Pro 2.0 electric toothbrush illustrates how sustainable materials, design for manufacture and iterative engineering can improve an established product without changing its core appearance or user experience. The London-based company is addressing a significant waste problem: the article cites approximately 141 million electric toothbrush heads discarded annually in the UK and four billion worldwide, with nylon components taking hundreds of years to break down. Founded by former Procter & Gamble employees Gyve Safavi and Mark Rushmore, Suri uses plant-based PLA for brush heads, a durable, recyclable aluminium handle and free brush-head takeback schemes in the UK and US. After launching its first toothbrush in 2022, Suri used customer feedback to guide its second generation, including AI sentiment analysis of material from social platforms and around 20,000 Trustpilot reviews. Customers valued accessories such as the mirror mount, USB-C charging and a travel case with UVC sterilisation. Research also suggested that smartphone apps accompanying premium connected toothbrushes often went unused. Innovation director Seb Wetherall therefore favoured an enjoyable, straightforward brushing experience over additional connectivity. With positive feedback supporting the existing design, Suri concentrated on performance, battery life, economies of scale and supply-chain resilience for US expansion, while seeking to avoid tooling changes. Suri’s design work primarily used Rhino and KeyShot, with Vizcom supporting early handle-form exploration. Its Chinese manufacturing partner had reached Engineering Validation Test and prototype production when Suri brought in design and engineering consultancy IDC to resolve remaining technical issues. The more powerful motor produced excessive noise and vibration, and battery life needed improvement. IDC combined UK electronics, mechanical and industrial design capabilities with its 10-person Shanghai office. Senior design engineer Xiaoya Bao visited manufacturing and component suppliers to evaluate motors, electronics and injection-moulded parts against requirements. Because IDC lacked in-house electronics design capability in China, electromechanical development required physical exchanges between the two locations. Testing identified inefficient motor-driving electronics. IDC evaluated battery and motor samples, electrical signals, current and waveforms while balancing cleaning performance against noise and harsh vibration in the hand. To make subjective experience measurable, engineers combined decibel readings with a mirror attached to the brush head and a laser whose deflection amplified otherwise difficult-to-observe sonic movements. Using Suri’s SolidWorks design files and in-house SLA-printed mock-ups, IDC revised component mounting, connections and internal damping so that power reached the head rather than the handle. The article reports that the resulting Pro 2.0 delivers up to 33,000 sonic vibrations per minute while operating at 50 decibels. Market expansion and circularity also shape Suri’s development framework. In the US, electric toothbrushes are Class I medical devices subject to FDA fundamentals, although their 510(k)-exempt status removes the premarket notification requirement. The article also identifies Good Manufacturing Practice and ISO 13485 requirements in relevant jurisdictions. Suri incorporates quality management and extensive Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis into development. Nonpermanent adhesives support component recovery and recycling, with repair or replacement described as a future possibility. These choices must still withstand drops onto tiled floors, water ingress, abrasive toothpaste and internal heat. Reusing recovered materials presents certification and consumer-acceptance challenges, particularly for recycled brush-head polymer returning to an oral-care product. Suri plans greater recycled-aluminium use in future handles and has pursued alternative applications for recovered PLA. The article reports that products using Suri’s recycled materials reached market in 2026, including a soap dish containing polymer from 18 toothbrush heads. Its Restore refillable toothpaste system uses a countertop body made from 50% recycled plastic and an airless pump intended to minimise residual toothpaste. Developed with Shellworks, the refill cartridge uses Vivomer, a PHA-based biopolymer described as home-compostable and capable of breaking down into water and carbon dioxide within six months. IDC refined dispensing force and repeatable pea-sized portions through SolidWorks modelling and physical prototypes. Despite using AI selectively in research and ideation, Suri favours traditional product photography over AI-generated marketing imagery, citing difficulties depicting natural human handling and a desire for brand authenticity. Overall, the article presents sustainability as an ongoing engineering and product-development commitment, balancing waste reduction and circularity with manufacturing quality, regulatory compliance and everyday usability.