Is an Electric Toothbrush Really Right for You?

Making the decision to switch to an electric toothbrush can be a game changer when it comes to dental hygiene. If you’ve always been a little skeptical about the benefits of an electric toothbrush, you’re not alone. Until recently I was perfectly happy with my good old-fashioned toothbrush and nobody would’ve convinced me otherwise. After a recent visit to the dentist though, and finding out I’d been blessed with my first cavity in several years, I decided to look at my options. Like a lot of people, I try to avoid visiting the dentist when possible, but I definitely don’t want cavities to become a regular occurrence.

My research led me to the simple conclusion that it was time to switch to an electric toothbrush. Yes, you can have nice clean teeth while using only a normal old-fashioned toothbrush, but it’s a lot easier to achieve that next level of clean if you switch to an electric brush. After sitting on the fence for quite some time, I decided it was time.

The Traditional Brush

A regular toothbrush is fine, but it’s limited by your own physical capabilities. On average, when brushing with a regular brush you’ll only be able to achieve about 300 to 400 brushes per minute; that’s not a lot when compared to the average electric toothbrush. That leads to the obvious conclusion that you’re simply not attacking the plaque on your teeth as effectively with a regular old-fashioned toothbrush.

Another thing to keep in mind with a regular toothbrush is that you have to do all of the work. My father recently switched to an electric toothbrush because he found it simply too hard to continue brushing his teeth effectively with a regular toothbrush. He has arthritis, and that constant brushing motion can be very painful on his hands. The electric brush, on the other hand, does most of the work for him, and he’s found his hands feel much better after using his new electric brush.

An Electric Brush Cleans Your Mouth Better

There’s no reason to sugarcoat it – an electric brush simply does a better job of cleaning your teeth and your mouth. In spite of the best efforts of dental professionals, most of us don’t do a good job of brushing our teeth adequately. I think in many cases it has a lot to do with wanting to rush out the door, so we just give our teeth a cursory brush and move on to the next part of our morning routine.

The advantage of an electric brush is that even if we’re rushing to get out the door, it’s still giving us a more effective clean. An electric brush can perform thousands of brushstrokes a minute, which means you’re guaranteed to remove considerably more plaque then you can with your regular toothbrush. While it’s still recommended that you clean your teeth for two minutes at every session, you can still get a much better clean with a quick brushing using an electric toothbrush than you can with a regular one. That will likely mean a lot fewer trips to the dentist.

An Electric Brush Works for You

As I mentioned in the above example about my father, an electric toothbrush does most of the work for you. It doesn’t matter whether you choose a sonic brush or an oscillating brush – either one can perform thousands of brushstrokes per minute, which leads to a greater clean. You simply have to move the brush back-and-forth over your teeth without scrubbing, as the brush will automatically do that for you.

The other great thing about the rotating motion, or vibration, of your electric brush is that it tends to work the bristles in between your teeth where a regular brush doesn’t normally reach. That means that you can prevent plaque from building up around your gums and remove the risk of gum disease and cavities. Chances are your dentist will be pleasantly surprised on your next visit.

Sonic Cleaning Action

An Overall Clean

An electric toothbrush simply reaches all of the hard-to-get-at areas – it doesn’t matter if it’s the gap between your teeth or the point where your gums meet your teeth – an electric toothbrush can reach all of those difficult spots. That means a much-reduced risk of gum disease or gingivitis. If you’ve ever suffered from sore gums then you shouldn’t hesitate; it’s time to switch to an electric toothbrush.

The other thing that an electric toothbrush can help you with is your breath. If you’ve ever been ashamed at a lunch date because of bad breath, chances are you haven’t been doing a good enough job of brushing in between your gums and in those hard-to-reach areas. All of that plaque buildup and those little bits and pieces that get stuck in between your teeth are what leads to bad breath (along with the bacteria that builds up on your tongue), and an electric toothbrush simply does a far superior job of removing all of this unwanted material from your mouth.

Make the Electric Choice

There really isn’t much of a debate – an electric toothbrush is simply a much better dental hygiene tool than a regular old-fashioned toothbrush. With thousands of brushstrokes per minute, it’s much more capable of removing all of the plaque buildup on your teeth and making sure your gums remain healthy. If you’ve been considering switching to an electric brush, you should stop thinking about it and make the move.