You have probably heard time and time again how important it is to take proper care of your teeth with twice daily brushing and once daily flossing. But have you ever been told that how you brush is just as, if not more, important than when you brush? Obviously removing leftover food particles and plaque is not as easy as simply moving a toothbrush over your teeth in any old way–you truly need to master speed, pressure and total brush time in order to achieve the best possible results. Or you could just switch to an electric toothbrush and let it do most of the hard work for you.
Efficient Tooth Cleaning
A high-quality electric toothbrush–like Sonicare electric toothbrushes–can produce better results than a manual toothbrush for several key reasons:
- They can provide a deep cleaning, rotation oscillation action. An independent study determined that electric toothbrushes, which work with a rotation oscillation action, are more effective at reducing plaque and gingivitis than manual toothbrushes.
- They can be easier to use. A manual toothbrush has to be moved back and forth along the teeth at all sorts of odd angles in order to thoroughly clean all reachable surfaces. This can be quite challenging, especially for individuals with reduced range of motion–such as those suffering from arthritis. An electric toothbrush only needs to be guided over the reachable surfaces of the teeth since it will move back and forth in order to clean. Additionally, electric toothbrushes have larger handles that can be much easier to grip than smaller manual toothbrush handles.
- They can keep you from brushing too hard. Believe it or not, there is an exact pressure you should use when brushing your teeth and anything harder can actually harm your teeth and gums–causing irreversible gum recession and enamel loss. With manual toothbrushes you need to brush back and forth across the surfaces of your teeth, and in your effort to be thorough the pressure you use may be excessive. With electric toothbrushes, however, you just need to hold the brush over your teeth and let the bristles do the work.
- They can ensure you brush for long enough. Many electric toothbrushes come with built-in timers to ensure you are brushing for at least two full minutes. It can actually be difficult to gauge how long you are brushing your teeth with a manual toothbrush–unless you actually time yourself–and many individuals only brush for an average of thirty to sixty seconds. This problem can be fixed simply, since many electric toothbrushes keep running for a full two minutes and then shut off automatically, or beep to notify you that the time limit has been reached.
Before you go out and grab the first automatic toothbrush you find, you should know that there is a big difference between battery-powered toothbrushes and electric toothbrushes. It’s true that battery-powered toothbrushes may be able to provide slightly better results than manual toothbrushes, but they are still nowhere near as beneficial as electric toothbrushes. High-quality electric toothbrushes are more powerful than battery-powered toothbrushes. They plug into the wall in order to charge, and have detachable brush heads that can be replaced every three to six months. They can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they can oscillate, vibrate, rotate or use sonic technology, they can have special features, such as modes for sensitive teeth, gum massage or whitening, and they can even have sensors to alert you when you are brushing too hard or when it’s time to replace the brush head. For those who are environmentally conscious there is also the fact that electric toothbrushes are greener than manual toothbrushes as they do not have to be replaced quite as often.
The Better Choice
Most dentists agree that electric toothbrushes are generally better than manual toothbrushes at removing plaque and keeping teeth bright, clean and healthy. It is still important to brush twice daily with the right technique in order to achieve the best results, but using a high-quality electric toothbrush can definitely get you the results you desire more efficiently than a manual toothbrush. For more information about which electric toothbrush is best for you and how you can use it to achieve the best results, contact your dentist, Dr. Saferin, today.
[text-blocks id=”1369″]
