According to this item posted this afternoon on the Popular Science website, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis will be the site of clinical trials on a promising new dental device: the plasma torch toothbrush. It might sound scary -- plasma is a state of matter that includes stuff like the surface of the sun, lightning bolts and superhero energy beams -- but it needn't be. PopSci even has a picture of what it calls "the World's Bravest Dentist" firing a beam into his own mouth.
Some background, for anyone who doesn't subscribe to Dentistry Illustrated Weekly: the plasma brush isn't a toothbrush, but actually a tool dentists are hoping to use for two primary situations. The first is breaking up plaque; the plasma torch, though it's no hotter than room temperature, is excellent at breaking the bonds that adhere plaque to a tooth. The second is as a sort of primer for filling cavities.
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