Music Teacher Reaches For Classic Toothbrush

Howard Richman is a music teacher, composer and pianist that around five years ago added entrepreneurship to his repertoire with the selling of old-fashioned toothbrushes.  

Richman’s motivation to start a business around traditional toothbrushes came from an issue he had with modern brushes – the multi-leveled bristles would scratch his gums.   

He took to cutting down bristles and making them shorter and more uniform in length. To his dissatisfaction, cutting took the rounded ends off bristles that are normally equipped with toothbrushes, making the brushes sharp.  

“I used to be able to get (old-fashioned toothbrushes) at CVS and then they even phased it out there, so I had to buy a box of 144 of them online,” Richman said. “I didn’t need that many but (thought) maybe there are other people who would be interested in them, so I did a little test.”  

Around 2015, Richman sold some of the brushes through Amazon and found a market for the niche product. He eventually found a domestic manufacturer to produce brushes to his stiffness specifications. He sells them under the Sound Feelings brand.   

The brushes are made according to a 1958 patent of the flat bristle toothbrush design. They feature closely packed, same-level bristles that support one another during brushing and help prevent splaying and curling.  

Last year, Richman raked in around $100,000 in revenue through selling the brushes via e-commerce channels such as Amazon. A four-pack sells for $10.95.  

The small, two-person venture found at plain-toothbrush.com has bloomed from the old-fashioned brushes. Richman runs the toothbrush venture, which is a branch of his music therapy business, Sound Feelings, alongside Office Manager Parnia Zandian.  

“It’s exciting to have somebody that I can count on to do things because the business is increasing,” Richman said.  

Richman’s confidence in the product comes from a 2021 study out of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine that found the old-fashioned brushes do not wear out as easily and as a result, become more effective in preventing decay for longer periods of time.  

“I’ve certainly learned a lot in the area and my best customers seem to be seniors who remember the old classic-style toothbrush,” Richman said. “I’m hoping to educate younger people, because they grew up with multi-level bristle toothbrushes and they don’t even know the difference.”