This month’s issue of my Consumers magazine tests and endorses electrical toothbrushes. They are apparently better to fight cavities then an handheld toothbrush, especially given the lackadaisical way most people brush.
I tried an electrical toothbrush a couple months back. It felt like nails on chalkboard. Cold shivers, a bit of pain, just awful. I don’t know why, but it was enough to give it up after two tries. I do have hot-cold sensitive teeth, I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.
I had a oscillating round brush, moving round-back-round). Apparently that is different from an sonic brush, that moves left to right and back again.
Does anyone else have this problem with electrical toothbrushes? If you had, how long did it take to get used to them?
I hated it at first - it felt like my nose was, uh, shaking? Like it was itching and possibly about to fall off. So I had to turn the damn thing off a couple of times to scratch my nose (after making sure it was still there in the first place) and then I’d go back to brushing my teeth. To be sure, a very cumbersome and irritating way of brushing one’s teeth, but after a while I suppose my nose adapted to the situation.
It took a couple of weeks. Less than a month, in any case.
Once you get used to it, you will never go back to a manual or other toothbrush. I had to have my gums cleaned and scraped, and after using the sonic brush, I have never needed to have this done again. Also, my teeth are much whiter.
The first few times you use one, it is uncomfortable. But your gums toughen up (which is one of the desired results) and after a week you don’t notice the vibration.
I’ve been using a Sonicare for about 8 years and will never go back to a manual. I absolutely love it. A few weeks ago we went away for a long weekend and I forgot to bring it, so had to buy a regular toothbrush to tide me over. I hated it.
As other posters have said, you get used to it after a few days. I didn’t think I’d like it at first because it vibrated my teeth so much they felt sort of buzzy, like my gums were being tickled to the point that they were itchy. But that sensation went away pretty quickly.
I have never used an electric toothbrush. Even the idea of it makes me smirk like I did the first time I saw an electric eraser. I am skeptical of the claims that they are better for cavity prevention than manual brushes.
At least for me, they are better. I have all my wisdom teeth, yet I also have a small mouth. Conventional adut size toothbrushes are too big. Even compact toothbrushes are hard to reach my back molars.
I use an Oral-B with a small round rotary brush. I love it! Even the dental hygienist noticed a decrease in tartar buildup (though still difficult, due to presence of my wisdom teeth).
Previously, I had used another one that I hated, which looked like a regular toothbrush (so by itself already too big), in a thicker plastic base (so even worse). I hated that one.
