What’s more, it delivers an excellent clean, with three modes – Sensitive, Daily Clean and Whitening – that take you all the way from a softer brush that’s easy on the gums to a more intense polish that should help get rid of staining. Battery life, meanwhile, is exceptional; you will easily get through two weeks of brushing and probably three without a recharge. Modes are increasingly a big deal, giving you different speeds and patterns optimised for whitening, deep cleaning or sensitive teeth and gums. It’s not clear that all of these make a huge amount of difference, but having a slower, gentler mode that you can switch to a faster, more intense mode can be useful when you’re getting used to a new brush.
This is because the movement of the brush head provides good brushing technique everywhere that it reaches, while manual brushing can be suboptimal in hard-to-reach areas, or difficult for some people. Rather than a standard brush head on a handle, these devices include trays that look like mouthguards lined with bristles. In promotional materials (such as the Amabrush video that accompanied the company’s 2017 crowdfunding campaign), oral b genius toothbrush the companies claim their devices can simultaneously clean all of a person’s teeth in mere seconds. (Amabrush filed for bankruptcy in 2019.) Questions of efficacy aside, a single user could expect to pay hundreds of dollars for the starter kit for one of these devices. And all of the replacement mouthguards cost more than $10 apiece, making these types of toothbrushes far more expensive than any of our other picks.
While there are more studies that lean towards the cleaning power of oscillating motion — there are other studies that say sonic vibrations are better. But ultimately, both brands offer brushes that will do a great job cleaning your teeth, as long as you keep a proper oral hygiene routine. The best electric toothbrushes are clinically proven to do a better job than the manual brushes of old and should be part of everyone’s everyday dental routine. After all, we would all like squeaky clean teeth and a whiter smile – and absolutely no-one enjoys fillings or root canal surgery. As we mentioned, Sonicare toothbrushes use elongated brush heads, and its motor moves the brush head side to side. Sonicare also employs sonic technology, which is the non-contact cleaning part of the toothbrush.
Similarly, we found the price a lot to spend on multiple, unnecessary cleaning modes (four for the 7500), intensities (three), and travel accessories. It’s been nearly a decade since the first app-connected, or “smart,” electric toothbrushes became available, but most are still at least double the price of a standard electric toothbrush. We don’t think they’re for everyone, but people who can benefit from added guidance and feedback through the brushing process may find a smart toothbrush to be a crucial tool in maintaining oral health. The Philips Sonicare 4100 also has a two-minute timer with quadrant pacing but is less noisy compared with the Oral-B Pro 1000. The Tom’s of Maine Naturally Clean Toothbrush is made from natural, BPA-free materials that are recyclable when you’re ready to replace them.
The Philips Sonicare 4100 is a simple electric toothbrush our tester found to be effective and gentle. Using ultrasound technology, it produces up to vibrations per minute, making short oral b toothbrush heads work of plaque and tartar. The built-in pressure sensors help protect your gums from over brushing, and the brush head replacement reminder alerts you when it’s time for a new one.
For at least one of those brushes, we will use plaque-disclosing tablets to check that all areas of the teeth are getting a proper clean (allowing for a little user error). To check battery life, we also leave the toothbrush running while standing up and time how long it takes for the battery to run down. We then divide this figure by the four minutes per day recommended by dentists to get an accurate idea of how many weeks and days a single charge should last. Doniger recommended using Quip if you’re looking for the convenience of an electric toothbrush subscription service.