I'm not certain what the best electric toothbrush is — I think any Sonicare or Oral B one will be great — but I do think everyone should own one and use one.
They don’t just do a better job of cleaning your teeth/preventing cavities, they also do a better job of cleaning and protecting your gums which I think is a bigger deal than you might think. Since switching, my gums are much healthier and my dentist can’t really tell when I’ve been flossing regularly or not.
But I also think flossing is a bigger deal than you might think. Controlling the bacteria in your mouth is a noble cause and may even be relevant in reducing the impacts of dementia. If that doesn’t seem compelling enough to get you to floss, I have a grosser way to compel you: the next time you floss, rubbing the floss carefully on both curved touching surfaces of your teeth (not just fishing out a spiky popcorn bit), smell the portion that you just used. If you aren’t a regular flosser, it will probably smell gross. So #1, it might be enough to get you motivated to clear out that festering bacteria, and #2, you might want to floss as a favor to anyone who might be getting up close and personal with your mouth.
(if you're not willing/ready to commit to going full electric, I'd recommend getting one and using it half the time at first, and choosing a model that buzzes every 30seconds so that you spend that much time in each quadrant when you do use it)
A few more tips:
- Get a white one so that the toothpaste drips don't look gross.
- I find the Sonicare brushes are too "buzzy" for me — they sort of "tickle" but they are quieter than the Oral Bs.
- There are now very high end Oral B models which are also quiet (run via magnets??) but I worry that they might be getting that in part by moving to a more "buzzy" style. Those special new ones also aren't compatible with all the old/regular Oral B brush heads.
These are roughly $40-$50 options:
This pricey one was the highest rated electric toothbrush by Consumer Reports in the fall of 2020 (but they haven't rated the crazy new Oral-B io models).
