Since it was electrified, the toothbrush has come a long way. Technology is constantly evolving to make our lives simpler: TVs are becoming more innovative, smartphones are the new gaming console of today, with thousands of the most played mobile games available to download. There is currently a bewildering assortment of technology crammed into the modest portable toothbrush. They come packed full of new ways to brush our teeth, resulting in the purchase of a toothbrush becoming a significant investment. Many of them are now connected, transforming them into smart brushes that can provide helpful feedback on how productive your time in front of the bathroom mirror has been, but this has driven up the price of these brushes significantly.
From micro-vibrations to sonic pulses, the terminology used by manufacturers might be perplexing, but what counts most is how clean your teeth feel after spending the dentist-recommended two minutes with each brush and how your dental hygiene habits improve over time. A manual brush has a few advantages over an electric brush: it doesn’t need to be charged, and it won’t start to malfunction no matter how much toothpaste and water it gets covered in – which has been a criticism levelled at electric brushes in the past.
Brushing your teeth properly is essential for avoiding decay and gum disease. The greater care you give your teeth and gums today, the less likely you will need expensive and invasive dental treatment later. With prices ranging from £30 to £300, deciding which electric toothbrush to buy might be difficult. So we put a variety of sonic and oscillating models to the test to discover the finest in 2021.
Philips Sonicare Protective Clean 5100
This brush strikes the sweet spot for providing the most valuable advancements in toothbrush technology at a reasonable price. It only has three brushing modes, which is a bare minimum nowadays when some of the more costly brushes have seven or more. The clean, white, and gum care modes, on the other hand, cover a wide variety of gum and teeth sensitivities, ensuring that you can discover the ideal setting for your mouth.
The quadpacer timing mechanism divides your mouth into quarters and buzzes when it’s time to move on to the next quadrant. At the same time, the pressure sensor ensures that the gum line isn’t damaged. The manufacturer claims that the 5100’s li-ion battery will last two weeks on a single charge, but we found that it lasts much longer. For example, we could brush twice daily for two minutes each time and only had to charge it after the third week.
Spotlight Oral Care Sonic Toothbrush
This electric toothbrush is as gentle as a manual toothbrush, but it gives you the deep clean of a hygienist appointment. Its quick sonic vibrations force toothpaste and air into difficult-to-reach places, effectively eliminating plaque, decreasing discoloration, and refreshing breath. It comes with three different-sized brush heads and three distinct cleaning modes, including sensitive and whitening, for practical and comfortable use throughout the mouth. Its cleaning power, general design, and lengthy battery life were all praised by our testers, and they all expressed a desire to keep using it. The high-pitched noise and extremely sensitive on/off button were the only drawbacks.
Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige Electric Toothbrush
If money isn’t an issue, the Sonicare 9900 is most likely the electric toothbrush for you. It has a high-end feel and is available in two elegantly subdued colorways (I went for the soft gold color). It’s also one of only two toothbrushes I tested with a small, portable charging travel case, which is a significant advantage. However, it appears to lack brushing modes on the surface since it only has three speeds that you can choose between by pressing a button on the front of the brush. The SenseIQ technology, on the other hand, automatically changes the oscillation and speed according to the pressure, motion, and coverage of your specific brushing style. As a result, this is a simpler version of smart brushing.
Like most premium electric toothbrushes, it uses sonic technology, and the bristles move up to 62,000 times as you clean. The Philips Sonicare app, powered by artificial intelligence, then provides real-time feedback and personalized recommendations. The Philips brush head also has a high-end feel to it. It has angled bristles for hard-to-reach places and triangle tips to remove surface stains for all-in-one cleaning. It could be because I’m so taken with the brush’s appearance and feel, but my teeth feel hygienically clean and appear somewhat whiter with just one use.
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean
If Philips’ ProtectiveClean and DiamondClean were twins, the latter would be the more attractive and seductive. However, the focus here is just minimally more geared to a glittering Hollywood smile – that diamond sparkle – as it’s ever-so-slightly more streamlined shape might suggest. The DiamondClean takes the ProtectiveClean’s three cleaning options and trumps them with five: standard, white, sensitive, gum care, and our personal favorite, deep clean. The stand-up bathroom counter charger is also a little more attractive.