Around $150 puts you in the realm of Bluetooth brushes (and, generally, a dip in battery life). Also known as smart or connected toothbrushes, these brushes pair to companion apps and typically come with several brush heads, in addition to a charging travel case, and even more cleaning modes. The Sensodyne Pronamel Medium Toothbrush is designed specifically for people with sensitive teeth and gums. It has an ergonomic handle, a solid grip, and a Duoflex brush neck that rocks and pivots to reach all the nooks and crannies in your mouth. The bristles are soft, gentle, and effective at removing plaque and debris.
The brush head vibrates and the top and bottom of the brush flare outward. While theoretically that might produce a deeper clean, I don’t think it did that for me. I found the Philips One Rechargeable to be the gentlest of all the brushes on this list, yet I still felt like my teeth were oral b genius toothbrush thoroughly cleaned with each use. That being said, it is more typical to see Oral-B brushes in a dentist’s office, but that’s probably because of an affiliation with the brand. The Oral-B iO’s magnetic charging dock provides a full charge that lasts up to two weeks in just three hours.
Good news is, the popular Oral-B Smartseries 5000 Electric Toothbrush is 40 percent off for Prime Day to help improve your oral health without hurting your wallet. The Genius 8000 can track the brush’s position in your mouth, thanks to on-board location sensors and access to your phone’s front-facing camera. Smart capabilities aside, the brush itself, like our pick, is a reliable tool. Like other models in the Oral-B line, it has superfluous cleaning modes and is compatible with any of the company’s replacement heads.
Alternatively, you can opt for the second type, a “sonic” or “ultrasonic” brush. These have heads that vibrate very quickly, at frequencies that buff the tooth surface, break up plaque and force toothpaste through the gaps between your teeth and around the gum line. This makes them more effective at cleaning around and in between your teeth where plaque and tartar tend to build up. Ultrasonic toothbrushes are even faster, creating millions of sound waves per minute to push a special “nano bubble” of toothpaste into your teeth and gums, helping to clean and protect them with even greater efficiency. Generally speaking, electric toothbrushes have settled down into two basic types. The first, as manufactured by Oral-B, has a small, round head that oscillates at high speed, rotating quickly one way then the other many thousands of times a second to scrub your teeth and gums.
When activated, the ultrasensitive pressure sensor alerts you with a beep that we found overly loud compared with alerts from the competition (fortunately, you can turn the pressure-sensing beeps off). The most expensive electric toothbrushes can cost 20 times as much as inexpensive ones. Over years of testing we’ve concluded that the most expensive models offer no meaningful health benefits over much more moderately priced ones. Manufacturers have blown up the high end with scientific-sounding oral b braun toothbrush “features” like cleaning modes and UV lights; nothing proves these extras work, let alone that they are necessary. All an electric toothbrush can really offer is automation of the brushing process by adding a timer and easing some of the physical labor, according to the researchers and dentists we spoke to. Some toothbrush heads are angled, which can help you reach the insides of your teeth better, especially those located in the insides of your lower and upper front teeth.
The Philips Sonicare 3 Series feels similar to and works much the same way as the 4100, with a glossy plastic handle and minimal gripping ridges. Now that our runner-up comes with a quadrant timer, this toothbrush has no features that we think are worth spending extra on. (It offers three total levels of intensity.) Overall, though, the brushing experience is roughly the same as with our runner-up pick.
It enhanced their brushing experience and left their teeth feeling cleaner. Furthermore, dentists recommend replacing your toothbrush about every three months, so that’s about two years of toothbrushes. The many options for electric toothbrushes can quickly become overwhelming to wade through, but as Dr. Ada Cooper told me, the best electric toothbrush is the one that will get you to brush consistently for two minutes twice a day. Are you tired of using a manual toothbrush that doesn’t provide the thorough clean your teeth deserve?
The Oral-B iO Series 7G electric toothbrush comes with two replacement brush heads, a separate case … Best Buy electric toothbrushes don’t only do a great job of helping keep your teeth clean and gums healthy – they’re also easy to use and won’t run their batteries down too quickly. Other features of the hum include a built-in two minute timer and a Bluetooth connected app. As you brush, you can also earn Smile Points from Colgate, which give you $1 per 100 points to spend on things like replacement brush heads.