An oral cleaning device (10) for characterizing a position of a brush head of the device. The oral cleaning device includes: a body portion (12)； a brush head (14) extending from the body portion, where at least a portion of the brush head is configured to move relative to the body portion； a controller (30)； and an optical sensor (28) positioned relative to the brush head member and body portion and being in communication with the controller, where the optical sensor is configured to obtain optical sensor data resulting from a deflection or rotation of the brush head member relative to the body portion； the controller being configured to receive the optical sensor data and determine the deflection or rotation of the brush head member relative to the body portion.
