Manual or electronic toothbrush? What to expect?

At 2 years old, the mother gives her child the first toothbrush, it is already late when the first tooth appeared around 6 months old. Children were just too hyperactive to clean their own teeth and still needed parents' help at that moment. People like what they are used to. I remember, I had been using manual toothbrush until the age of 25. And I was happy. Until a day in the second year of my orthodontics residency training program, Oral B, during one lecture, gave out every single of us an electronic toothbrush (that was the first version, still not out in the market, that costed around 250 euros at a time). It looked so fancy that some of us gave it to our family as a gift. I was curious and opened the kit right away and tried it. It was strong and different. And the feeling was so clean, so fresh. I was hooked and have been using electronic tooth brush since then. I never look back. So do my family.

Manual toothbrush is cheaper, around 7-10$ depending on the brand. Electronic toothbrush is from 30$-329$ (DiamondClean Smart, Philip Sonicare, 329$). It is like an investment on your teeth. Some use batteries, some are rechargeable. The latter lasts much longer. Every toothbrush needs to be replaced every 3-6 month. With electronic toothbrush, you only need to replace the tip/head (around 3-10$, you may be able to get those at a cheaper price at your dental office).

In term of efficiency, manual toothbrush depends on your hand dexterity. The motion, the force, the efficiency is hardly controlled, especially for the elderly and the children. I see quite a few patients coming to my office and have sensitivity due to receding gum, toothbrush abrasion,... The damage is not small. Good news is, it can be monitored and controled with electronic toothbrush. Some electronic toothbrush comes with iPhone app to monitor the position of toothbrush, the timing and the pressure (Oral B Genius/Philip Sonicare). Other functions include brush replacement reminder (when the indicator on the tooth brush bristle changes the color), intensity adjustment (3-6 modes). The cleaning mechanism is either oscillation (Oral B) or ultrasonic (Philip Sonicare). The vibration from toothbrush helps the bristles to reach deeper between the teeth and into the gum pocket. The cleaner the teeth are, the better it can absorb the minerals, the lesser the cavities can be formed. The benefits: cavities prevention, brighter teeth, fresher breathe, much less dental bill. In a long run, it saves you much more than you can imagine. There are so many good brands that you can easily find your favorite.

From today until October 31st 2018, every new patient that starts orthodontic treatment at Kaizen Dental will get a free Oral B Genius Ortho kit. (Value 189$, for professional only).

Please contact Kaizen Dental at 424 381 4004 to schedule an appointment.