The invention relates to a mechanism for driving the head of an electric toothbrush. The mechanism includes a cam 20 rotatably driven by a motor 10 and an elongate transfer mechanism 30 having a receiver 40 for receiving the cam at one end and a mechanism for transferring oscillatory motion to a toothbrush head 60 at the other end thereof. Cam 20 has a projecting head 23 which is received in a substantially rectangular aperture 41 of the receiver 40. The long side of the substantially rectangular aperture has a length equal to or greater than the diameter of the circular motion of the projecting head 23, the short side has a length less than the long side of the rectangular aperture. Thus, in use, circular motion of the projecting head of the cam is converted into oscillatory pivoting motion of the transfer member 30 by action of the projecting head 23 against the short sides of the substantially rectangular aperture 41. A tooth and gear arrangement for converting pivoting motion of the transfer member 30 into rotational motion of the toothbrush head 60 is also described.
