'Smart teeth' could help keep habits affecting health in check

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Sensors glued to teeth can help detect when people chew, drink, speak and cough and track exactly how much they consume, along with other aspects of their health, researchers have suggested.

In a study, scientists used dental cement to glue accelerometers that recognized movement in all three dimensions onto the teeth of eight volunteers, Fox News reported.

The devices were coated with dental resin to keep them safe from saliva.

Volunteers were also made to chew gum, drink a bottle of water, cough or read a section of an article for about 40 seconds.

Researcher Hao-hua Chu, a computer scientist at National Taiwan University in Taipei, said that the mouth is an opening into our health, as our drinking and eating behaviours shed light on our diet.