Best Electric Toothbrush Buying Guide
Great dental hygiene is so much more than having a beautiful smile. While it may help your confidence a lot, it also says a great deal about your own health and habits. And we at ParentsNeed HQ would like to assert that current generations are lucky to have been taught good oral hygiene habits from childhood onwards and it has really helped us be involved in keeping our teeth from decaying. All we need, according to the dentists, is a good toothbrush. But is a manual toothbrush really the best option these days?
The answer is quite simple. A manual toothbrush is good enough if you have a brush head that is small enough to reach every corner of your mouth and around the hard to reach back molars. It is good enough if you can remember to spend enough time brushing all sides of your teeth. And it is certainly good enough if you can apply the right pressure – not too hard as to hurt your gums, and not too soft as to fail to dislodge plaque – as you brush. But if you can’t do all three, you will need help to prevent a future cavity or root canal. And those who have had root canals before will tell you to do all that you can to avoid needing one yourself!
Enter the electric toothbrush. When they first appeared on the market, they were created for patients with limited motor skills to be able to clean their teeth. These days, a lot of people have one, and many of them will tell you that they can’t go back to using a manual brush. Electric toothbrushes have also come a long way since then, and a lot of them are so hi-tech they could communicate with your phone. Now, whether you want one with Bluetooth technology or not is up to you but upgrading from your manual toothbrush? After reading this buying guide, you might agree that it’s a must!
What features should you consider in buying an electric toothbrush?
Electric toothbrushes are definitely here to stay. And with a ton of new features built into the new models, it might just be fun to have a toothbrush that does more than just clean your teeth. Here are some features that you might like to consider when you go out shopping.
● Rechargeable vs Disposable Batteries
When electric toothbrushes first came out into the market, they were actually powered by plugging it into a wall socket through a power cord! You can just imagine what a safety hazard that might have been since it was with water. These days, they are powered by disposable or rechargeable batteries.
As of the latest, electric toothbrushes with rechargeable batteries are the best performing ones in the market. If you have any doubts as to the battery life, you won’t have to worry because each brushing uses so little energy that a single charge can go for weeks. One very important advantage of a built in rechargeable battery is that there is no battery chamber where water could seep through and cause disgusting bacterial build up. In addition, disposable batteries can be wasteful and harmful to the environment.
● Adjustable Speed
Everyone has a special “touch” that they find comfortable when brushing their teeth. Some like it very gentle, while others like a firm massage. Gone are the days of the single speed toothbrush (although, they are still available) because adjustable speeds have arrived. While it is true that you may prefer only one specific speed, this is pretty ideal for families who like to share just one electric toothbrush using their own brush head. And if your children like using an electric toothbrush, you will want to have a soft and gentle cleaning for them. Other brands more appropriately call their brushing speeds, “brushing modes,” and can have as much as six! They include daily cleaning, whitening, gum care, tongue cleaner, deep clean, and so on and so forth.
● Vibrating or Rotating-Oscillating Brush Action
Vibrating toothbrushes used to be the only electric brush available. Basically, the toothbrush vibrates and you apply a light pressure and perform the usual motions for brushing your teeth. These days, the technology has improved a lot and rotating-oscillating brushes are now available. A rotating-oscillating brush moves in a circular motion and then swings back and forth. All you have to do now is position the brush against your teeth at the proper angle and allow it to do its work. It sounds lazy, but it isn’t. And anyway, a superior and more efficient clean doesn’t really depend on how much elbow grease you apply.
● Brush Head Size
As with regular manual toothbrushes, different brush heads are available in the electric toothbrush market. You want to choose a brush head that can reach the far corners of your mouth, especially behind the back molars where cavities form. Pick a brand that has different sizes available so that your family can select the one that is right for them.
● Compatibility with Replacement Brush Heads
Besides being more hi-tech and efficient, nothing much has changed in the guidelines for good oral hygiene. You still have to brush for 2 minutes and you still have to replace your brush head every 3 months. So you will want to pick a brand with the widest brush head compatibility so that you never run out. After all, an electric toothbrush that you can’t use could never outperform the ubiquitous manual toothbrush.
● Timer
While we are on the subject of oral hygiene rules, an electric toothbrush can do one more thing for you that will help you comply. It can tell you how long you have been brushing! Through a little beep or a tactile vibration, you will no longer have to guess if you have brushed each part of your mouth for long enough. A good electric toothbrush will not just tell you when your overall brushing time has reached two minutes, it will let you know while you’re brushing when to move to another part of your mouth.
● Pressure Sensor
And you can go ahead and stop abusing your gums with too much pressure! If you so wish, you can get an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor so it can alert you if you are being too hard on your gums. Say goodbye to receding gums and hello to a healthy smile!
● Charge Indicator Light
Since we’re talking about all these sensors and indicators, you might as well look for a model with a charge indicator light so you know when your toothbrush needs to rest in its dock and also when it has charged enough that you can take it out. Charging strategically does a great deal for extending battery life and ensuring that you get the most use from your electric brush for many years to come.
● Ergonomically Designed Handle
If you’re buying a toothbrush that does so much as brush your teeth for you, it really is not too much to ask for a handle that feels good to hold. And believe it or not, electric toothbrushes get loved or rejected on the sole basis of their handling. So go ahead and pick one that feels good in your hands and that you will love for a long time.
● UV Disinfectant
Of course you will want anything that comes into contact with your mouth to be clean. If you are the kind who is not content with cleaning your toothbrush with a little soap after using it, you might love how some electric toothbrush brands have a UV disinfectant for their brush heads. All you have to do is give it a couple of minutes under the light and you’re good to go for the next time you need to brush.
● Size of Recharging Dock
Your rechargeable electric toothbrush will come with a charging dock. Some people might not pay much attention to its size, but if you have limited counter space, this might be something that you will want to consider. While the size of the charging dock doesn’t affect your oral hygiene, you will appreciate a smaller footprint if you don’t have the space. Having space for the dock is one way to make sure that you will use your toothbrush instead of storing it away for lack of space.
● Connectivity
Would you believe that some electric toothbrush brands can connect to a phone app through Bluetooth technology? We kid you not! And not that it is a necessary feature for good oral hygiene, but if you’re the organized type who likes to see “stats” then you will definitely enjoy this feature. When it comes to your children, well, whose kid doesn’t enjoy technology these days? You could probably encourage them to brush their teeth if you could make the app a tooth brushing “game.”
● Kit Inclusion
Don’t be put off if you see a high price tag. If one brand seems to be more expensive than another and they seem to be relatively the same in features, have a look at what is included in the kit. You just might find that one of them includes more brush head replacements and a carrying case. Sometimes, the added value within the kit will end up making it a more worthwhile purchase.
● Cost
Electric toothbrushes vary in price from $3 to $300 and some are better than others. But that doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank. There are a lot of mid-range toothbrushes that will ensure that you are optimally cleaning your mouth that are well worth the money you pay for it. And since experts agree that electric toothbrushes really do give teeth a far superior clean than manual ones, it will be a good investment for you and your family especially if you think how much a root canal or fillings cost.
● Customer Satisfaction
We do our own reviews here at ParentsNeed HQ, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if you could get feedback from customers as well. Spend some time online where toothbrushes are sold, such as Amazon.com, and read good and bad reviews about different electric toothbrushes. No one brand is perfect, but if you read the bad reviews, it could definitely help you decide if the cons of a specific brand is something you could live with or not. You can also talk to friends who you know are users of a brand you’re eyeing and ask them if they are happy with their purchase. An electric toothbrush, after all, is a considerable investment and you don’t want to commit to something that will not make you happy.
Tips for Using Your Electric Toothbrush
- The rules of good oral hygiene won’t change when you use your electric toothbrush. But you don’t need to scrub or press too hard on your teeth. All you need to do is position the brush against your teeth and let it do the work for you. However, you still have to make sure that you clean all the areas of your mouth for two minutes and spend some time brushing your tongue and the roof of your mouth to get rid of oral bacteria.
- Brush heads are not just created with different purposes in mind. They also come in different colors. Encourage your kids to pick their favorite colors so that they will be more likely to enjoy brushing their teeth.
Our Recommendation
We are just as excited as you to purchase your first electric toothbrush, whether you are buying for yourself or for your whole family. But before you go out and wade through an ocean of electric toothbrushes, have a look at the 5 Top Electric Toothbrush for Your Family that we have selected especially for you. The brushes we picked are all awesome and hardworking that you might as well have a dentist in your own home. But of all the models we reviewed, the Oral-B Pro 7000 SmartSeries Toothbrush is the most impressive with six cleaning modes, a pressure sensor, timer, and USB connectivity being among its many features. What it does not do is sing and dance, but it doesn’t need to do that to be our number one pick of the bunch. Now, that is definitely something to smile about!
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