Philips Sonicare Elite toothbrush

Walshy · 23 December 2006 at 2:02PM

Philips Sonicare Elite HX7351 toothbrushes were £99, but are now half price at most retailers.

Then if you go into your local dental surgery before the end of December, they should have a leaflet on the counter to send off for a free gift:

Send off your till receipt from either Amazon, Argos, Boots, Comet, Currys , Dixons, John Lewis, Waitrse, Sainsburys and Tesco, and Philips will send you either a Ladyshave (RRP £20), Shaver (RRP £20), 4 in 1 Mens Grooming kit (RRP £20) or Travel Hairdryer (RRP £18).

I've just received my requested Mens Grooming Kit and they have substituted it for an upgraded 7 in 1 kit! :T

Offer open until 31/12/06, claims should be received by 31/01/07.

raeble · 23 December 2006 at 3:50PM

I've got a phillips sonicare I've stopped using it because the heads are so expensive - £25 for a pair. Unless you can find a cheap source for replacement heads I wouldn't advise buying one of these.

withabix · 23 December 2006 at 3:58PM

£20.99 inc delivery for twin pack from Amazon for the Elite heads.

I've seen triple packs for <£25 delivered somewhere online too.

We've found the heads last twice as long as the Braun Oral-B ones we used to use, so they work out about the same cost per year.

AMO · 23 December 2006 at 4:09PM

raeble wrote:

I've got a phillips sonicare I've stopped using it because the heads are so expensive - £25 for a pair. Unless you can find a cheap source for replacement heads I wouldn't advise buying one of these.

Sonicare Elite toothbrushes are the best in the industry. Sonicare is backed by virtually every dental practice.

Heads are not cheap as you say, but they last a fair while. It depends on how you brush. With an electric toothbrush, you rely on the head brushing its 30,000 times a minute.

You don't apply too much pressure as the toothbrush itself brushes a lot of times with less pressure. You also angle the toothbrush between the gums and teeth for it to clean effectively.

I wouldn't have thought you'd need to replace the heads more than once every 6 months. I replace once a year.

I used to think they were a bit of a gimmick. The cheap ones (battery powered ones) still are. However, the more expensive plug in the wall to recharge ones are all pretty good, but having a Sonicare is getting the one that dental practices support. It's worth it!

AMO

RozT_3 · 23 December 2006 at 5:03PM

I agree with AMO, every night when I head off to bed I feel like I just left the dentist, and every morning - ditto.

I think as gadgets go, for £50 this is one of the best things out there!!!

gromituk · 23 December 2006 at 5:04PM

AMO wrote:

but having a Sonicare is getting the one that dental practices support.

Are you sure? I've read on here that "sonic" toothbrushes are a bit of a gimmick and, while they work well, don't work quite as well as the traditional Braun-type electric ones. Certainly the small head on the Braun is easier to get all round the teeth than the larger one on the traditional Sonicare "Advance" (which I used to have). I see that the Elite has a smaller head but it still seems to be bigger than the Oral B. Sonicares might be good at agitating the surface of water, but what looks impressive on an advertisement doesn't necessarily translate into effectiveness at cleaning teeth.

In both cases, it's a scandal that you have to dispose of the whole device when the rechargeable battery/batteries give up the ghost.

AMO · 23 December 2006 at 5:30PM

gromituk wrote:

Are you sure? I've read on here that "sonic" toothbrushes are a bit of a gimmick and, while they work well, don't work quite as well as the traditional Braun-type electric ones. Certainly the small head on the Braun is easier to get all round the teeth than the larger one on the traditional Sonicare "Advance" (which I used to have). I see that the Elite has a smaller head but it still seems to be bigger than the Oral B. Sonicares might be good at agitating the surface of water, but what looks impressive on an advertisement doesn't necessarily translate into effectiveness at cleaning teeth.

In both cases, it's a scandal that you have to dispose of the whole device when the rechargeable battery/batteries give up the ghost.

To be fair, you can never really convince everybody that electric toothbrushes are not a gimmick. But then, I questioned whether standard toothbrushes can equally be seen as a gimmick.

Either you brush your teeth or you don't. If you do, then good electric toothbrushes brush a lot faster - you're not going to beat 30,000 times a minute. If you don't then tartar builds up and hardens and this takes a trip to the dentist for them to use their metal apparatus to try and remove.

Either way, the argument can be justified for electric toothbrushes. As for it being a gimmick, go into 100 dental practices. Sure, they're all on commission to sell electric toothbrushes to bring in more income, but they pretty much all support Phillip's Sonicare.

I used to also question things such as flossing. Is it necesary as it people didn't do it until the last couple of decades or so. Also, by flossing, you are encouraging gaps between your teeth in much the same was as toothpicks and this allows even more food to get back in between your teeth.

Again, there is always pros and cons. But overall, so long as you don't pull too hard at your teeth with flossing, you're not going to increase any gaps between your teeth the way using toothpicks would, and in a nutshell, whatever damage it would do is easily less than the damage that food between your teeth would leave as it decays.

I don't know how much better a Sonicare is than other makes of electric toothbrushes, but the same question has to be asked of Oral B. I *heard* a rumour that its a gimmick trying to imitate a Sonicare. Now, what's your response to that!

AMO

me4bargains · 23 December 2006 at 6:55PM

raeble wrote:

I've got a phillips sonicare I've stopped using it because the heads are so expensive - £25 for a pair. Unless you can find a cheap source for replacement heads I wouldn't advise buying one of these.

I agree. I won one in a competition and gave it to my teenage son, he now needs a replacemnet head and I nearly had a stroke when I discovered how much it costs :eek:

moss_trevor · 23 December 2006 at 7:32PM

I've never tried the Philips one but I have the Oral-B Triumph and it is streets ahead of my old Oral-B. I'd be interested to hear anyones opinion who has tried both.

Toothsmith · 23 December 2006 at 8:38PM

Both are good brushes, but my opinion is that the Oscillating/pulsating action of the Oral B is a better cleaning action that the ultrasonic.

The thing that really makes the difference though, is how often and effectively you use them!

pjmony · 23 December 2006 at 8:52PM

gromituk wrote:

In both cases, it's a scandal that you have to dispose of the whole device when the rechargeable battery/batteries give up the ghost.

Agreed.

If you're willing to have a go with a hacksaw and a soldering iron you can replace the batteries (2 * AA NiCds)!
The tricky part is knowing where to cut.
Oh, nearly forgot, they've got the batteries in some kind of glue
But once you've got the cover off you can replace them fairly easily in future.

Philips Sonicare Elite toothbrush

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