Electric Toothbrush vs Manual. Which Is better?
A manual toothbrush costs a few pounds at most, whereas a decent rechargeable electric toothbrush is likely to set you back a fair bit. However, if it does the job, surely its worth it?
That’s the argument anyway, and it’s why some toothbrushes at the top end the market these days can cost about the same as some mobile phones! So if you need a new toothbrush, should you opt for the cheap disposable manual type, or should you go for an electric one. And what features should you look for?
Many dentists these days recommend getting a rechargeable electric toothbrush for a deeper clean and all round good dental health. But electric toothbrushes aren’t all the same. There’s a big difference between battery operated toothbrushes and rechargeable ones. The battery-powered toothbrushes aren’t much more useful than a manual brush, whereas the rechargeable versions have a lot more power in their cleaning, and are a lot more efficient for the job. But of course they also require that you carry a recharging unit around with you, and this might be an issue if you’re a constant traveller.
The speed and motion of a decent electric toothbrush is the secret of its performance. It’s obviously much faster than you achieve by hand, and it uses pulses and oscillations that mimic the cleaning action of professional dental equipment. That means you can easily clean away those coffee and red wine stains, as well as massaging the gum for healthy blood flow, and reaching in between the gaps your manual brush might miss. If you’re concerned you might brush too hard, some models come with a timer or flashing lights that give you a nudge to press more lightly or stop cleaning.
All the evidence shows that a rechargeable electric toothbrush is going to give you a noticeable improvement if you’ve only ever used the old-fashioned toothbrushes.
So, if you’re looking for some great examples of electric toothbrushes worth a go, what brand is best? There are few contenders, but Oral B has a decent range and is a definite favourite with dentists worldwide. You could go for a basic rechargeable Oral B Vitality Plus toothbrush, which will get your teeth cleaned whichever choice of disposable head you pick and comes with a two pin charger. Or at the other end of the budget, the Oral-B Genius 9000, which offers six different brushing modes and alerts to help you avoid over-brushing your teeth and gums. The case even charges your phone as well.
Remember you’ll have to replace the heads every few weeks or months, so that’s another cost to factor in. Some electric toothbrush heads are specifically designed for stain removal, gum massage, or reaching the tricky areas of the mouth that other brushes can’t easily reach, but you’ll probably find that the basic toothbrush head supplied with the entry-level models will do an all-around excellent job at cleaning your teeth, and you can get reasonably priced replacements in most supermarkets and chemists on the local high street.
A rechargeable electric toothbrush is definitely the way to go if you’re serious about your dental health and you’re ready to upgrade from the manual version.
- Ben Moore
