Smart toothbrush maker Beam expands into dental insurance

Beam Brush app

Beam Technologies is going beyond (smart) brushing with its latest offering, MobiHealthNews is reporting. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company has launched SmartPremiums, its dental insurance plan, in California.

Beam CEO Alex Frommeyer sees the dental benefits industry as broken, with more than 100 million Americans not having dental coverage. What Alex and his team are striving to do is incentivize people to consistently invest in their own dental health, and provide them with affordable access to dental professionals.

The company puts an emphasis on preventive care in their dental plans to help members save money on their premiums. As part of the deal, plan members get a free, smartphone-connected Beam Brush every quarter, along with extra brush heads, toothpaste and floss. The brushing data is sent to a companion app and the better members brush, the lower their premiums are. Beam’s companion app also allows members to access a digital insurance card, find and rate dentists.

In August 2014, when it was still “only” a device maker, Beam raised $5 million in a round led by Drive Capital, bringing its total funding to around $5.5 million.