Who needs a £140 satnav toothbrush?

As you clean your teeth, it transmits information by radio to a separate miniature display screen, telling you where you should clean, for how long, and if you're brushing too hard or not hard enough.

But the big question in many mouths yesterday was: Does anyone really need such a sophisticated electronic gadget to tell them how to brush their teeth?

And when you learn that it costs a whopping £140, it's not hard to figure that the brightest smile it will create will probably be on the faces of its manufacturers.

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The dental health market already has a range of simpler "toothbrush timers" which tell users when they have been brushing for the recommended two minutes.

They range from electronic devices built into the brush, to egg timer-type gadgets which children can use.

But the makers of the "satnav" brush, Oral B, are hoping their new gizmo - called Triumph with SmartGuide - is going to be this year's Christmas must-have in the bathroom.

It comes with a wireless LCD display which can be stuck on to the shaving mirror as the electric brush whirrs away for exactly two minutes.

Tiny microchips and sensors in the brush feed back information to an inbuilt "brain" which can detect when there is too much or too little pressure being applied.

The LCD display shows a circle divided into four. This represents four different sectors of the mouth and as each quadrant is cleaned, the screen shows how good or bad a job is being done and when to move on.

It counts 30 seconds for each quadrant and two minutes overall. The display also shows when cleaning is uneven, alerts the user to when the brushes have become worn and acts as a clock when not in use.

Oral B says its research suggests that people using the device are four times more likely to spend two minutes per clean than if using a manual brush.

The firm's dental expert Dr Surinder Hundle said: "We are dedicated to helping improve the way people care for their teeth and gums and taking a lot of the guesswork out of brushing.

"Triumph with SmartGuide does just that, guiding the user in real time to help improve his or her brushing habits."

The Triumph is on sale nationwide from next month and will be back with a big advertising campaign in the months running up to Christmas to promote is as a gift for the person who has everything - except, perhaps, a perfect smile.