I had hoped I could reverse periodontal disease but I quickly learned about the best you can do is ensure you have super human dental hygiene. My dental Hygienist Ramona at McMaster Dentistry in Tucson recommended purchasing a electronic tooth brush and no ten dollar special electric tooth brush for that matter…
Pro “Like” Toothbrushes
I learned of two brushes that fit the bill. They’ll get you as close as a toothbrush humanly possibly can to an at home periodontal cleaning. First the Oral B Electric Toothbrush and then the Sonicare Electric Toothbrush.
I did look on the internet and couldn’t find anything on which was the best electric toothbrushand both brushes were equally priced with similar features.
The Oral B Electric Tooth Brush
Immediately after receiving the Oral-B brush I noticed it came with a bunch of extras. Like a cute little remote display to show if you’re brushing too hard and a stand to hold extra brush heads.
Honestly, I had to push down quite hard on the brush to trigger the warning on the remote and the stand was just extra clutter so I ended up discarding them both.
After two years of using the brush it’s still going strong. Like new. I’ve replaced the brush heads like clockwork every three months as anybody should.
Can Sonicare Scare Plaque into Submission?
Recently I’ve experienced even greater challenges with my oral health despite my disciplined oral hygiene practices. My dentist thought perhaps it might be time to give a different brush a try. A new study on the Sonicare brush shed some new light on it’s plaque fighting prowess so I sprung for their latest brush…
The Sonicare Electronic Toothbrush
I ordered the Sonicare FlexCare 900 series brush it cost me around $80. This time being a little more careful to buy just the brush without any of the extras.
It has all the same features minus the over brushing alarm which I didn’t find helpful anyways. The major difference between the two brushes is the Oral-B brush head rotates while the Sonicare vibrates. The vibrating action feels so amazing that I almost don’t want to take the brush out when I’m done.
A couple other things to note is, I’ve only had to charge the brush once since I bought it over a month ago and it’s still going strong. It also it came with two brushing programs. First program tells you when 30 seconds is up so you can move onto the next 1/4 of your mouth (Oral-B does this as well). The second program also adjusts the speed to gentle so you can hit up your gum line before moving on which I found very helpful.
Best Electric Toothbrush
I’d have to say if both brushes were equally priced I’d spring for the Sonicare. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing any extras either just get the brush. You can by versions of these brushes for as cheap as $50 but make sure they have the following two features….
Built in Brush Timer
Recommend brushing covers each quarter of your mouth for at least 30 seconds. The better electric toothbrushes have a built in brush timers. And I can tell you if you rely on a cook timer your not going to set it every time (I tried that lol).
Gum Massage Speed
It’s great to hit up your gum line with a gentle massage. The better brushes come with several speeds. The one to look out for is a gentle or massage speed.
Dangerous Brushes Scare Teeth into Submission as Well
Don’t spring for the cheaper electronic toothbrushes such as the spin brush or any other ten or twenty dollar specials. They don’t regulate the speed of the brush head and my guess is would tear up your teeth as a result.
It’s well worth the investment if you’re concerned with oral hygiene to spring for the better brushes as shown here. Like I said look for the two features, “Built in Timer” and “Gentle Speed”. Whatever the brush is should regulate it’s speed and not run at 40 billion RPM.
Did I Achieve Pro Results as Advertised?
Each time I return for my regular checkup it seems there’s good and bad news. I’ve been able to control and reduce periodontal disease to a minimum. However, I’m convinced it has more to do with oral hygiene discipline than simple brushing gadgets.
Did the brushes help though? Yes there’s no doubt a good brush get’s more consistent and higher quality tooth cleaning in. However, I think this in combination with a healthy diet (e.g. plenty of water, fibrous foods, pro-biotics & pre-biotics, and Omega-3) and lifestyle plays a vital role in oral health.
Yet most people don’t think too much about how their diet effects their teeth. Future article? Perhaps… It all depends on how much you guys like this one 🙂
Sharing is Caring
If you enjoyed this article make sure to share it on facebook or print it off. I recently made some spiffy buttons for the website so you can share the health wealth!
Also if you purchase one of the brushes let us know what you think! We’d love to hear from you.
