I’ve been thinking about upgrading my electric toothbrush since my current crappy one is basically on death’s door after a couple years of use. Is there like a toothbrush equivalent of a Toyota Hilux I should know about?
SURI. They’re made to be able to be repaired so you won’t have to replace it, and the heads are made with vegetable based plastics that you mail to them to actually get recycled.
The battery lasts for weeks and weeks, it has a UV sterilizing travel case and is the best electric toothbrush I’ve owned.
From their website:
Every toothbrush you’ve ever owned still exists.
Each year 4 billion toothbrushes are thrown away; enough to circle the earth 12 times.
Which is why we need to take toothbrush design back to first principles. If we can do our best to make each component reusable or recyclable, we can do more with less.
But surely the carbon footprint of mailing the heads back to be recycled does more harm to the planet than not recycling the heads? Seems like a bit of green thumb theatre.
Like when everyone a couple years ago were collecting their plastic bread tags to send to that guy in Africa who was turning them into recycled plastic bricks to make a house. Seriously, just bin the bread tags and send him $10, you’ll save yourself $15 in international shipping costs, and he cound buy 1000 bread tags, or even better a bunch of pre-made bricks, and we don’t have to be mailing our trash all around the world.
you dont mail them back all at once, you collect them and send them back in the envelopes they provide.
they are very, very light.
mail trucks go from my community mailbox to the city centre, then to the other hub whether or not my few ounces of brush heads are in there.
Nothing is perfect. Take biodegradable trash bags for example. There’s a higher carbon cost to make those than thin petro-chemical regular bags. You need to weigh up landfill waste vs energy costs with everything, but with more energy. Same with mining for lithium for EV batteries.
Nothing is perfect. This, I believe, is a better choice.
I have an Oral-B, and the head replacements are CAD$45. I’d get this, but I feel like I’d be wasting the toothbrush I already bought. 😞
yeah… well maybe keep it in mind for when it craps out on you. or you could consider ditching it (while recycling the battery properly) just to stop buying new heads that’ll be around for millennia after we’re both dead
I’ve had a Phillips Sonicare for years with no complaints.
I do have one complaint, the price of brush heads. Top notch performance otherwise.
Generics exist.
The generics I’ve tried all work but noticably worse. The quality of the bristles is different and it doesn’t leave the same clean feeling. The price of the genuine replacements is stupid and they keep increasing it, but I’ve given up on finding a good quality generic one and just pay the price. They don’t need replacing that often anyway.
If anyone does know of a good quality C2 compatible replacement please do let me know though.
Same here, I feel as though I see the Oral-B heads on sale at least once a month, but the Sonicare heads are almost never on sale. Years ago I noticed the Philips Sonicare site running sales around Black Friday, but there haven’t been any for the last couple of Black Fridays.
Every now and again I’ll see discounted heads on Amazon, but I’ve also heard stories that there is a 50/50 chance of getting a knock-off that won’t work with handles - as Amazon combines all of their products for storage regardless of the seller
Yup, base model, $30 or so sonicate gives that “fresh from the dentist” clean
I got an oral b toothbrush (primary selling point for me, was the pressure sensor that alerts you if you’re pressing too hard against your teeth, I think I paid around €150 for it back then), well over 8 years ago, and it’s still going strong. The battery still easily holds a week’s charge too, which is great for holidays
I find the Oral B keeps my teeth feeling clean longer than sonicare.
Pretty sure I have the same one. Dentist told me I’d been brushing too hard. I’ve owned the sensor version for about 8-9 years now and it works perfect.
Phillips SonicCare for 20+ years. I think it’s helped me a lure with my dental care. Various models as the batteries wear out. The latest has Bluetooth that I never use but that doesn’t affect the cleaning part.
Just like a Hilux it’s hard to tell what it is after a decade of abuse but it keeps on working. You haven’t bothered cleaning the limestone building up on it so far, why start now?
I managed to get an Oral B one for cheap, and it’s been doing me fine. Maybe there are better brands, maybe there aren’t, but it does the job.
Honestly, what might be better than the toothbrush itself is the timer in it. Forces me to do the full 2 minutes rather than me stopping after 30secs or so.
Used Oral-B for a few years. Then Sonicare for a few years. Preferred the former simply because the brush seemed more ergonomically shaped.
And now I use neither and brush manually again!
Reason: for me the most important factor in having a mouth that feels clean is clearing the spaces between the teeth. And electric toothbrushes don’t do this any more effectively than manual ones. A dental jet does, and I used one for years (Waterpik) and loved it. Then I discovered that even a dental jet is not as effective as something else: those little interdental brushes.
So in the end I dumped all the gadgets and just use these two manual tools.
the most important factor in having a mouth that feels clean is clearing the spaces between the teeth
This. Sadly the spaces between my teeth are way too tight for even the finest of interdental brushes, but floss works a treat for me.
This is odd. How do you get the floss between them if the brush won’t go there?? You thread it like a needle?
I have the same problem, and honestly I can just about force the thin side of the floss between my teeth but it’ll get stuck sometimes (as the tight part is the top of the tooth), which is just not great.
The brushes, which I was excited for and bought the smallest size of, will only fit under the problem area - and are uncomfy.
So I use them to clean electronics 😅
To be fair, interdental brushes are not meant to cleave the teeth apart. That would not be a good idea. The important bit is the gumline between the teeth.
BTW the very smallest size brushes can also be used to unblock those tiny holes on a shower sprayer.
Tooth brushes aren’t meant to or designed to clean between teeth, that is literally what floss is for.
Oral B Pro 1000. On my 2nd one. First one lasted several years before the rechargeable battery pooped out. Dentist has been very happy with the results.
One tip: I dry mine thoroughly after each use. I take the brush head off, and dry the metal parts under there. Keeps it from gooping up over time. Sounds like a hassle, but it’s not, takes about 5 seconds.
I’ve also got an Oral B Pro, I think. Not at home to check the exact model. I’ve been very happy with it as well! It has smart features but it doesn’t require you to use them to use the toothbrush as normal
Oral B, generic heads. Works well.
None. I have given up on electric and returned to the classic manual method. It stopped all the issues I had with my teeth that troubled me when I was using an electric one.
Braun. It’s been great for years.
My hygienist recommended the waterpik sonic fusion and I’m happy with it, but the genuine brush heads are pricey and the knockoffs all use shitty bristles that don’t do a good job and fully deform within a week. I also don’t use the water flossing as much as I should but it’s nice to have.
Oral B Smart 5000
Got it free in exchange for a survey. It’s got Bluetooth and an app and I thought it was ridiculous and I never would have paid for it.
I was still with my ex, so it’s been going on strong for at least 8 years now, and I use generic brush heads just fine. I think oral B had the highest speed if that’s your thing.
I like the Bluetooth timer module because it has a fun face on it that tells me if I’m doing good that reminds me of a tamagotchi.
The battery won’t hold the charge for days like it did, so I keep it on the base now, and it still holds enough juice to get through us brushing with it. Whenever it dies, I plan to replace it with whatever the current model is.
I got a two pack of the Colgate Hum on sale at Woot, and I really like it. It has a Bluetooth connected app that tells me how efficient I am, and it’s definitely made me a better brusher.
I’m a big fan of my Burst toothbrush. If you want, you can sign up for their replacement brush head subscription where they’ll send you a replacement brush head every 3 months or so.
Oral b pro 1, 2 or 3. They use the same motor and batteries as their most expensive ones, which is really the only bit that matters. Everything else is just gimmicks to justify the price… Bluetooth connections and other bullshit.
And don’t bother with official heads either. Generics work fine. Just remember to change them often.
