Electric toothbrush braces). The Broxo Electric Toothbrush was introduced in the U.S. by E. R. Squibb and Sons Pharmaceuticals in 1960. After introduction, it was marketed in the U.S. by Squibb under the names Broxo-Dent or Broxodent. In the 1980s Squibb transferred distribution of the Broxodent line to the Somerset Labs division of Bristol-Myers Squibb. The General Electric automatic toothbrush was introduced in the early 1960s; it was cordless with rechargeable NiCad batteries and although portable, was rather bulky, about the size of a two-D-cell flashlight handle. NiCad batteries of this period suffered from the Memory effect. The GE Automatic Toothbrush came
Electric toothbrush use a step-down transformer to operate the actual toothbrush at low voltage (typically 12, 16 or 24 volts). Wiring standards in many countries require that outlets in bath areas must be protected by a RCD/GFCI device (e.g., required in USA since the 1970s on bathroom outlets in new construction). By the 1990s there were problems with safety certification of Broxo's original design. Further, improved battery-operated toothbrushes were providing formidable competition. The first ultrasonic toothbrush, first called the Ultima and later the Ultrasonex, was patented in the U.S. in 1992, the same year the FDA gave it approval for daily home