A 26-year-old Bermudian man made history yesterday — by brushing his teeth.

Wolde Bartley almost died in a car accident four years ago from life-threatening neck and back injuries that left him immobile. His mother, Lauren Wilson, has been at his side ever since and Mr. Bartley has shown remarkable improvements being able to say a few words and moving his thumbs.

Brushing his teeth, however, remained difficult because he could only swallow very little water leaving his mother no choice but to use a swab dipped in water to clean them.

But yesterday Mr. Bartley became the first person to own and have his teeth brushed by the AGATHA Oral Hygiene System.

The system, which is FDA approved, combines manual brushing with suction to help comatose or immobile patients clean their teeth.

It was created by Timothy Stewart, CEO of the holding company Tetracton, which owns Midian International USA Inc., who donated the $3,500 machine to Mr. Bartley yesterday.

Mrs. Wilson said last night she was relieved and her son seemed overjoyed to have a better way to clean his teeth.

She said: "It makes it a lot easier to clean his teeth. Nothing went down his throat when they did it yesterday and he was laughing and smiling."

Mr. Bartley's speech therapist, Melissa Moniz said she hoped the machine would help with increasing his vocabulary.

She said: "He can say a couple of words. I have heard him say 'OK' and 'no' and 'bye'.

"There will be a lot more stimulation in his mouth and this might help his movements and get the nerves acting in his mouth. I am hoping this will help."

Mr. Stewart invented the machine a few years ago after his mother had a stroke.

A few weeks after she was released from hospital he went to give his mother a kiss, but just could not. When he confronted the nurses about not brushing her teeth, they showed him how they tried. Because she was unable to swallow, like Mr. Bartley, the nurses had to carefully clean her teeth using a swab on a stick.

Mr. Stewart, who is from Trinidad, had enough and invented the AGATHA, which uses manual brushing while spraying each tooth and then immediately suctions the liquid and debris away. He learned of Mr. Bartley through one of his Bermudian shareholders and after visiting him and his mother, Mrs. Wilson, decided he wanted to help.

Mr. Stewart said: "I heard about them from the Health Department and the uncle is one of the shareholders. After visiting with them I thought she could use this for the young lad."

The next step for Mr. Stewart's machine will be to introduce it into the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in the intensive care unit — if it is given the go-ahead by senior officials.

He added: "I am talking to the hospital at the moment to get trials done. Then we will set a date for trials in Bermuda along with other areas because I want it to be part of this worldwide research."