Most electric toothbrushes run for two minutes which is the recommended amount of time to brush your teeth. Some of them have 15 second intervals for you to move to each quadrant.
Thanks for the reminder about the timing feature of modern brushes. Which the 1960s versions this hijack started with obviously did not have.
I brush with a manual toothbrush several times a day. Pretty vigorously & thoroughly I believe. I used to have somewhat scraggly teeth prone to catching & holding gunk so I took their maintenance seriously.
When I did get a Sonicare brush a few years ago at my dentist’s recommendation, I was amazed at how much longer it wanted me to work a quadrant than I had been used to. Like double. Who knew?
Further evidence the extra duration may be a big part of the “secret sauce” of electric brushes. At least modern electric brushes.
My understanding is that the main advantage of electric toothbrushes is that they encourage/force brushing longer than the typical manual brushing. In fact, I think I remember reading that correct manual brushing (time and technique) and electric are about the same when compared in studies.
I also suspect that electric toothbrushes avoid the issue of brushing too hard and damaging soft tissue. I think many manual brushers apply a lot more pressure (and use harder bristles) than is good for gum (and tooth surfaces right at the gum) health. Electric brushes tend to come by default with soft bristles and complain if you apply too much pressure (my Oral-B slows down and labors if I press it too hard into the tooth surface).
My understanding, from literature and my dental hygenist - the fast-vibrating brush gets deeper everywhere faster and longer, the timing feature helps, and the other thing is that if it’s like mine it has a red light if you push too hard; and with that medium pressure, you are also massaging your gums around the teeth, encouraging blood flow for healthy gums.
I use the garburetor for almost everything - they say don’t use for bulky long fibrous material (corn husks, banana peels, etc.) The thing is, I live where water supply is not a problem, or that expensive. I suppose part of the problem is not throughly flushing things down the drain all the way with a decent flow. I could see in areas where water is more at a premium, this is not a good appliance.
(Grease? Wipe with a paper towel or two and throw in the garbage so you’re just washing the filmy residue with detergent. Too bulky -scrape into the garbage.)
My battery-powered electric toothbrush doesn’t have a timer. I push the “ON” button, and it runs until I push the “OFF” button.
I also have a Water Pick, or some knockoff, and I know I should use it more than I do, but setting it up, etc. can get messy.