Users of electric toothbrushes see themselves as superior to people who have to move their wrist backwards and forwards each morning and evening. Today’s smart toothbrushes – which interact with mobile apps – are the new premium home dental cleaner, and you’ll find excellent examples from major brands such as Oral-B and Philips, and newcomers such as Kolibree. We tested a range of products to find the best electric toothbrush – paying particular attention to the smart, app-connected brushes.
Toothbrushes have come a long way since man started taking care of his teeth. We started with chewing twigs and stayed that way for about 1,000 years before the Chinese invented the first proper brushes (using the bristles from pigs’ necks) in the 15 th century. It wasn’t until 1938 that nylon bristles appeared to create the first modern toothbrush. And in 1960 along came the first electric toothbrush.
Aside from these developments, and advances in toothpaste, the evolution of brushing teeth has been very slow.
Most toothbrushes these days aren’t significantly different from ones used over 50 years ago. In the same time man has walked on the moon, cured killer diseases, and rediscovered the Pokemon craze.
Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 countless industries and tools have been revolutionised by smartphone apps, but again it took a long time for toothbrushes to catch up.
The currently available smart toothbrushes aren’t a giant leap forward in dental hygiene just because of the app integration. Other less smart but still technological advances in brush handles and brush heads have moved mouth cleaning on far more than using an app while you’re brushing, but what we like about these smart brushing apps is that they focus the user on properly cleaning his or her teeth and other areas of the mouth.
You don’t need an app for that, but used correctly we think such apps will significantly improve your dental hygiene regime.
The vast majority of electric toothbrushes aren’t “smart”, in that they don’t come with a dedicated app. You can, however, easily download an app and use it alongside a non-smart toothbrush. This certainly makes sense for kids, who need a bit more fun than most smart brush apps allow.
We’re looking forward to testing the soon-to-be-released Prophix electric toothbrush from ONVI , which has an HD camera built into the handle that allows users to film inside their mouths, and so target specific areas and see exactly where they’re brushing. While we wait for that level of sophisticated technology there are smart brushes that connect with smartphone apps already available, and the great news are that they’re not just smart but also perform excellently at their primary function: removing plaque.
Superior electric toothbrushes feature a brushing timer that helps the user brush for the recommended full two minutes. Most dentists suggest you spend 30 seconds per quarter of the mouth (upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right). A good brush timer will alert you every 30 seconds so you know when to move on to the next quarter.
Philips prefers a six-section mouth view, with 20 seconds per area, while Oral-B sticks with the traditional 30 seconds per quarter.
The more-sophisticated electric toothbrushes feature different modes for specific mouth areas. Most will have a standard clean setting and a deep-clean mode. Some will have a special setting for brushing the tongue (see below) or sensitive teeth, while others have a range of speed or intensity settings that can be used in a similar way.
They should also boast a pressure sensor to prevent you pushing too hard against your teeth, which can actually damage both the tooth and the gum.
When I first used an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor I was amazed how wrong (and damaging) my brushing technique was. I was brushing far too hard. Vigorous over-brushing can wear down the enamel on the teeth, and lead to sensitive teeth and receding gums, exposing the sensitive root area.
If buying an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor stops you doing that it will have paid for itself immediately. After a few brushes you should have tamed this over-brushing habit.
Many of us neglect to clean our tongue as part of our dental regime, and this is a mistake. As much as half the bacteria in your mouth reside on your tongue. Look for white areas or desquamation (skin peeling) for signs of tongue ill health. Having a healthy tongue could improve your sense of taste and reduce bad breath.
A decent electric toothbrush will have a special tongue-cleaning mode, which is gentler than that which you use for brushing your teeth. This will eliminate the need for a separate tongue scraper.
Most of us probably don’t change our toothbrush heads often enough. Both the Oral-B and Philips smart brushes claim they know when you need to switch to a new brush head, although we suspect this is calculated merely by time since the previous replacement. If you can’t work this out – or have a scheduling system – then a gentle reminder from the connected app should help you keep your brush heads from wearing out.
The brushes we test here connect with a smartphone app to help you perfect your tooth-brushing routine, collect data on each brushing session, and point out errors in your technique.
In practice we found these apps to promise more than they actually achieved but using the apps for a few weeks really did focus the mind to improving our dental hygiene regime. We expect such apps to get smarter and more accurate but for now you should use them to perfect your routine rather than be a surrogate dental hygienist.
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