People love whiter teeth, but they don't love the contraptions they have to sit in at the dentist's office to get them that way. BriteSmile, which provides products that offer a cosmetic whitening "spa" experience, wanted IDEO to help them design a new whitening device that would make patients more comfortable, improve the whitening process, and offer compactness and mobility to fit the needs of busy and space-constrained dental offices.

The team created a sleek, efficient unit with a floating arm mechanism that effectively transmits the light necessary to activate whitening chemicals applied to a customer's teeth. The machine aims the light source more accurately than previous technology, thereby improving the whitening process. The mobile arm gives the customer freedom of movement during the hour-long treatment, and the lines and features of the unit provide a sense of reassurance, comfort, and confidence. The end result is a more enjoyable client experience.

In all positions, the BriteSmile 3000PB Teeth-Whitening System is a complete, self-contained unit that protects both the delicate lighting technology and the safety of the patient and operators. When folded, the arm collapses into the main body of the machine, making it compact enough for storage under the counter or in a corner, and stable enough to roll from room to room. It is more adaptable and suited to deployment in remote, small, or crowded dental practices than previous devices, and has thereby opened up the overseas market for the company. The product has dramatically improved the BriteSmile's capital outlays and operating expenses as a proportion of its procedure revenues.