Electric Toothbrush, Yay or Nay?
So, those Electric Toothbrushes, are they worth it?
If you don’t read anything further, at least just read this:
Electric toothbrushes are SOOOOOOO worth it! They create miracles in nearly every mouth that they touch. You should have one!
What is SODA’s all-time favorite electric toothbrush ? …
the Sonicare. We love all electric toothbrushes, though. ALL of them.
There are a few more things worth learning:
1. Why are they so wonderful?
2. The correct way to use them.
and
3. What other brands are at the top of our list? Our tried and true favorites. :)
So first off, Why are electric toothbrushes so wonderful?
Well, here is the thing. If we could get everyone to brush perfectly with a manual toothbrush, electric toothbrushes wouldn’t have as much of a place in this world. The truth of the matter is, though, it’s just difficult for us to do.
It’s hard to reach the backsides of our last molars.
We’re always in a hurry and tend to get lazy.
We brush too quickly. We need to make a conscious effort to follow a pattern around our mouths as we brush. If not, we tend to brush our favorite places longer while missing our least favorite places.
We, as hygienists, see it all the time. Right-handed people miss the insides of their lower right back teeth because it’s awkward and backward to brush right there. Left-handed people miss their lower left, in the back, on the insides, for the same reason.
It’s hard for ALL of us to get the backsides of our bottom front teeth and the very back sides of our last molars.
When we use a regular toothbrush, we have to place the brush where we need it AND THEN try to make the circular motions perfectly to remove that plaque ourselves.
Well, with electric toothbrushes, we simply have to place the toothbrush in the area that needs to be cleaned. Once there, the toothbrush MOVES itself and does ALL the rest of the work FOR US! It’s pure genius!!
We end up brushing longer and more diligently with electric toothbrushes as well.
The average person brushes for about 45 seconds, while we should all be brushing for 2 whole “grueling” minutes! :)
Most electric toothbrushes have a timer and guiding system, so our reminder and motivator are built right in!
What is the correct way to use them?
There is most definitely a right AND a wrong way to use these brushes.
Electric toothbrushes have some legitimate power behind them. If you scrub, while they are scrubbing, it means you are DOUBLE scrubbing…
You will damage your gums and tooth structure, creating recession and abrasion if you keep this up.
The correct way to use them is to make a pattern.
Gently guide the brush around your mouth. Hold each spot for about five seconds as you guide the brush around.
Start on the upper right, for example, on the outside. Put the brush way in the back, around the backside of the last tooth, and hold for five seconds. Move forward, hold for five more seconds. Keep moving forward in five-second intervals until you reach the back of the left molars.
Then come along the insides of the top teeth, using the same 5-second pattern, from left to right.
Next, it’s the bottom teeths’ turn. Start on the bottom right, outsides. Then do the bottom right insides.
Finish off with the chewing surfaces (tops) of your teeth, and then brush your tongue.
I admit that, as a dental hygienist, I sometimes have to turn the toothbrush BACK ON for a few more seconds to get the chewing surfaces and my tongue. Doing this means that I may actually brush for 2 min and 20 seconds or so. :)
By brushing this way, you will be sure that you have brushed every aspect of every single tooth, in all areas of your mouth equally, except for the areas in the “floss department,” that is.
You can’t forget the floss because NO toothbrush reaches in between to clean those areas. If you don’t floss, you are leaving live, sticky, white bacteria in your mouth.
This is why they needed to invent floss. They just did.
When proper brushing and flossing are combined, your bleeding will go away. The inflammation and gum disease will get better. You’re on your way to a world of fewer cavities and no periodontal disease. Your dental hygienist and honest dentist will be so pleased, and so will your mouth!
Which electric toothbrushes are the best?
We already gave away our top favorite above: the Phillips Sonicare. Any version of it will do. You can choose to get as fancy or as simple as you wish. All of them are great!
The Sonicare has won the top spot because of the sonic vibrations that it uses to clean your teeth.
The Burst Sonic toothbrush uses these same sonic vibrations and is a VERY close runner-up. It also offers an auto-ship brush head refill program to keep life simple.
Other toothbrushes tend to use a scrubbing motion instead, either in circular rotations or back and forth. The Oral B Braun and Spin brush are good examples of this type.
It’s important to know that we aren’t saying these other brushes aren’t great too. They work really well and have proven to show GREAT results!
The only difference we have seen is this…..
**The brushes that use sonic vibrations seem to reach IN BETWEEN the teeth better than the mechanical motions of the others.
In other words, though we hygienists hate to admit or say this, we have to be honest…..
We have seen more people get away with NOT FLOSSING, when they used the Sonicare and other sonic-type toothbrushes compared to any other toothbrush. The sonic vibrations seem to reach between and jiggle off that plaque more than a scrubbing toothbrush does.
So, if you don’t have an electric toothbrush yet, put it on your wish list!
Your best routine for the cleanest mouth is:
FLOSS
Use an ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH with your preferred toothpaste
MOUTHWASH
Get your teeth cleaned regularly, to remove what you miss.
We sure hope that this narrowed things down for you a bit and helped clarify the electric, rechargeable toothbrushes available to you.
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. NO ONE knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
So, thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Remember to take the time to find your HONEST DENTIST, and be sure to browse around our links and follow us on social media for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
