Confused about Electric Toothbrushes?

Are you baffled by the huge range of electric toothbrushes on the market? We thought we’d give you some helpful tips for choosing an electric toothbrush that is best suited for you.

POWER

The first thing to consider is the power of the brush. As a general rule, the rechargeable toothbrushes have more power. We would always recommend a rechargeable brush over one operated with replaceable batteries.

A recent introduction to electric toothbrushes has been the use of Li-Ion batteries. These are similar to the batteries found in most smartphones. They have more consistent power and will brush with the same efficiency no matter if the battery is on 100% or 5%. It’s a nice feature to have, but by no means essential, it would just mean you are able to charge the toothbrush less and maintain the same cleaning efficiency.

REPLACEMENT HEADS

Another important consideration would be how easy is it to buy the replacement heads of the brush you are looking at. From time to time, special offers come up in budget supermarkets and shops for cheap electric toothbrushes. If the replacement heads for these brushes are not available easily, then you may find that in 3 months time, when it is time to replace the head, that they are not easy to obtain, and the electric toothbrush you have recently bought is no longer any use.

FEATURES

A lot of the marketing and packaging of the electric toothbrushes explain all the features that are available on that brush, and how it is better than an older model or a competitors model. Often these include ‘Sensitive modes’, ‘Whitening modes’, ‘Quick Fresh Modes’ and ‘Deep Clean Modes’. In reality most of these features are not required for the vast majority of users. The main features required of an electric toothbrush are a TIMER (usually for 2 mins), and a PRESSURE SENSOR, to make sure you aren’t pressing too hard on the teeth during cleaning. All the other features are nice to have, but definitely not essential.

With this in mind, it is easy to buy a brush lower down in the manufacturers ranges that has these features, meaning you can get usually find a great toothbrush for between £30-50. you don’t need to spend a fortune.

TECHNOLOGY

There is generally 2 types of technology involved. ROTATING AND OSCILLATING brush action, and SONIC brush action.

Rotating and Oscillating brush action works in a highly efficient mechanical action to clean the teeth- the brush rotates from side to side and pulses up and down. this movement of the brush means the fibres of the brush sweep over the teeth many more times than a manual brush would do and results in very clean teeth surfaces. This is generally the action of Oral B brushes.

Sonic brush action works more like a smaller version of dentists/dental hygienists scaling handpiece. The fibres on the brush vibrate at a very high frequency and this vibration results in the plaque being dislodged from the tooth surface. This is generally the technology used in Sonicare and Colgate brushes.

All manufactures claim their technology is superior over all others, but in reality they are all very good. We get to try lots of the brushes on the market, and every member of our staff has their own preferred brush type/brand, it all comes down to personal preference. some people find the sonic brushes feel great, while others find it too ‘tickly’  and other users find the rotating oscillating style brushes very efficient and great at cleaning, while some users can find the brush to feel a bit brutal and mechanical. For this reason it is wise for many people to consider buying a toothbrush which is lower down in the manufactures range to ‘dip their toe in’ and find out if they like that particular style of brush. If you like it and would like some of the more expansive features then you could consider an upgrade in the future.

DO I NEED TO USE AN ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH?

The simple answer is no, but as always it’s not as simple as that! Most studies done recently have compared electric toothbrushes with manual brushing and have shown them to be as good as a manual brush done with a perfect technique. But it has to be pointed out that most people don’t brush with perfect technique, and from that perspective they would benefit from the use of an electric toothbrush as the brush does the work and minimises the influence of the users technique. The investment of an electric toothbrush may put some people off when you are ale to buy a good manual toothbrush for £3-£5, but if you were to purchase an electric toothbrush for  £50, and it prevented you from needing just 1 filling, then that investment has already been justified.

I’M SOLD, WHAT NEXT?

The best thing to do next would be to talk with your dentist or dental hygienist about any further considerations for your teeth/requirements. They will be able to help you further. They will also be able to help show you how to use the brush best as the techniques for their use is slightly different depending on what type of brush. If you already have one, bring it with you at your next routine appointment and they will be able to show you how to use it best.

 

Happy Brushing