It seems really weird to me that you're selling a "non-diagnostic" early access test but also claiming on your website that "Bristle analyzes your oral microbiome to detect oral diseases." I've seen early access in video games, but never before in a medical device. I'm sure you have lawyers who told you this was okay, but I feel like the whole reason that you have to do clinical trials before selling a product (the spirit of the law, so to speak) is that many consumers will believe that the test you're giving them is producing valid results, even if you have a fine print disclaimer saying that it is for "medical purposes." If someone took this test and wrongly assumed that the results meant they were safe from oral diseases, that could have a really negative impact for them.
Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
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Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#12It seems really weird to me that you're selling a "non-diagnostic" early access test but also claiming on your website that "Bristle analyzes your oral microbiome to detect oral diseases ." I've seen early access in video games, but never before in a medical device. I'm sure you have lawyers who told you this was okay, but I feel like the whole reason that you have to do clinical trials before selling a product (the…
Thank you for your input, that's completely understandable. We're describing in our website the product that is undergoing clinical validation, but want to provide consumers an opportunity to gain insight into their oral microbiome, as there are no equivalent comprehensive oral microbiome tests. The "early access" test is a limited offering that provides novel data to users.
We are making it clear to users during on-boarding and in the microbiome report that our test is currently for educational and research purposes only. You are right, there are health implications behind results of the test, and we hope that the data we provide empower users to make impactful positive decisions around their oral health.
We are on-boarding early access users off the wait-list in small batches in the hopes of discussing the product 1:1 with each of them. Our assay is currently undergoing regulatory approval and we anticipate to have a diagnostic offering by the end of 2021.
Our goal is to make sure users up front know what they are receiving with the early access test, so if you have other suggestions or concerns we'd love to chat with you - feel free to email us at info@bristlehealth.com
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#13I'm a Bristle paying customer, and love the entire conceptual area of microbiomes and self-directed assays. IMHO microbiome science provides a new kind of quantification of health and wellness, and suggests new vectors for treatments and feedback, and can even help enable discoveries of experimental confounders and colliders.
For a good introduction I suggest the paper "Oral microbiome: Unveiling the fundamentals" at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6503789/
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#14I'm reminded of a medical maxim: Never run a test if it the results won't affect treatment decisions.
I'm that vein: Is this really a medical test, or is it just recreational?
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#15I'm reminded of a medical maxim: Never run a test if it the results won't affect treatment decisions. I'm that vein: Is this really a medical test, or is it just recreational?
Our early access test is recreational. However, we anticipate to provide clinical decisions for oral health in the near future. By signing up for the educational test today, you are also contributing to scientific discoveries and helping to develop future products that can prevent disease.
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#16Stopped going to the dentist several years ago because I've never gotten a cavity in my life. Would be interested to try this just to check and make sure my luck isn't running out.
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#17I'm a Bristle paying customer, and love the entire conceptual area of microbiomes and self-directed assays. IMHO microbiome science provides a new kind of quantification of health and wellness, and suggests new vectors for treatments and feedback, and can even help enable discoveries of experimental confounders and colliders. For a good introduction I suggest the paper "Oral microbiome: Unveiling the fundamentals" at…
Thanks so much for your support! You’ve said it beautifully, and we are driven by the potential of the microbiome to better guide health and treatment decisions, and ultimately improve lives.
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#18Will the early access users get access to the treatment recommendations when the ability to give recommendations for treatment becomes available or will they have to do another round to get that? If I can do the test now and get the updates later I’d be a lot more comfortable signing up.
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#19Stopped going to the dentist several years ago because I've never gotten a cavity in my life. Would be interested to try this just to check and make sure my luck isn't running out.
A huge reason we started Bristle was to answer this exact question!
Re: Launch HN: Bristle (YC W21) – At-home microbiome test to improve oral health
#20> What do you do with my data?
> Your privacy is a top priority for us. Our test will pick up some of your DNA - it’s impossible to completely avoid - but we only look at the microbes from your saliva and we take steps in our workflow to throw out human data during analysis.
Can you do better than this? What exactly do you do with the data? What do you store? How do you store it? What do you throw away? When do you throw it away?