Philips Sonicare Elite toothbrush

richto

alchemista wrote:

There's something awkward about Brits discussing dental hygiene....:rotfl:

In what way?

At least we have not gone like the Americans with no free national dentist service, loads of people with terrible teeth and streets full of crackheads and rednecks with rotting, stained teeth hanging out of their mouths.....

http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~dgreen/pics/crustacean/rotteeth.jpg

theauth0r

hey richto, how did u get a picture of my girlfriends teeth !!!!! ?

caesarz

AMO wrote:

In all fairness, I think that there isn't a lot in it. A lot of the top of the range toothbrushes probably do the job. As the Sonicare is seen as the elite toothbrush it is a tad more expensive and I certainly believe that it's not as good value as Oral B. Having said that, if you search Google, opinions are divided, and you need to take into consideration the following points:

1) When comparing toothbrushes (in the internet and in your research articles) you are comparing the top of the range Sonicare toothbrush with the top of the range Oral B toothbrush. If not, you have to compare similar ranges. Whilst I don't think there is a lot in it either way, this thread is has been about Sonicare toothbrushes a couple of models older at half the price. Are you comparing with equivalent Oral B offerings.

2) You have to compare cost/benefit, not just in how much it physically costs for a Sonicare toothbrush, but the amount of brushing gain of the teeth against how gentle the toothbrush is against your teeth.

3) You need a few more links other than from that research site. Answers on Yahoo favour Sonicare. Most people favour one or the other, but really there isn't a lot in it.

Personally, I think that so long as people avoid gimmicky low end toothbrushes which are cheap but not good _value_, then they'll be fine!

AMO

I think although the sonicare is a good toothbrush but it is a known fact that it had build problems.

My friend had one and the button broke after 5months because of water seeping inside, and if you search around, you can find many people with the similar problems. And it is the build problem that made me go for the sonic complete from oral b.

vk2003

AMO wrote:

In all fairness, I think that there isn't a lot in it. A lot of the top of the range toothbrushes probably do the job. As the Sonicare is seen as the elite toothbrush it is a tad more expensive and I certainly believe that it's not as good value as Oral B. Having said that, if you search Google, opinions are divided, and you need to take into consideration the following points:

1) When comparing toothbrushes (in the internet and in your research articles) you are comparing the top of the range Sonicare toothbrush with the top of the range Oral B toothbrush. If not, you have to compare similar ranges. Whilst I don't think there is a lot in it either way, this thread is has been about Sonicare toothbrushes a couple of models older at half the price. Are you comparing with equivalent Oral B offerings.

Actually, the sonicare is a one trick pony - it vibrates at a high frequency, and that is it. Let me explain why it is that I don't believe it works as well as a manual (electric) cleaning action....

The fibres of the sonicare vibrate at an "ultrasonic" frequency. This is supposed to allow debris to be dislodged from the teeth by ultrasonic waves set up in the saliva covering the teeth. Because the fibres vibrate so fast, they have to be soft or they will end up damaging the gums/teeth.
Unfortunately this means that for manual debridement they are less effective. In addition, many people apply slightly too much pressure with the sonicare head because the fibres are so soft. Thus the ultrasonic motion of the fibres is damped, and the sonic technology is reduced in efficacy.

Finally, the gold standard of brushing with a manual (non-electric) brush is called the "modified bass" technique. This uses a small circular motion of the brush per tooth, as it allows for good cleaning action on the flat surfaces but also into the gaps between teeth, without causing trauma to the gums. The Oral B brushes do this. The sonicare brushes have a single plane oscillation. Unfortunately this plane involves the gum edge, and so I have anecdotally noticed more gum damage (recession) with the sonicare

AMO wrote:

2) You have to compare cost/benefit, not just in how much it physically costs for a Sonicare toothbrush, but the amount of brushing gain of the teeth against how gentle the toothbrush is against your teeth.

See above

AMO wrote:

3) You need a few more links other than from that research site. Answers on Yahoo favour Sonicare. Most people favour one or the other, but really there isn't a lot in it.

Actually, the one site I referenced is the american pubmed which merely references lots of scientific journals. The links I posted are for articles in several international peer reviewed dental journals. There was not one single article that I found on pubmed that favoured the sonicare over the oral b. The articles listed on medline would likely be exactly the same

AMO wrote:

Personally, I think that so long as people avoid gimmicky low end toothbrushes which are cheap but not good _value_, then they'll be fine!

AMO

Agreed :beer:

N20Y1D

withabix wrote:

Toothbrushes can be bought for under £1

No further posts necessary!

if dental hygiene isnt your thing thats a great idea...

I find that washing with a tumbler full of cold water and an old piece of cloth far cheaper than all that faffing about with baths and showers..........:rolleyes:

chazza

hmm with all this talk, i have cancelled my order, to be honest i find manual brushing better. vk2003 discussion about gum damaged should be read, if you brush to hard ono the gums, they will weaken.

GoldenEye

chazza wrote:

hmm with all this talk, i have cancelled my order, to be honest i find manual brushing better. vk2003 discussion about gum damaged should be read, if you brush to hard ono the gums, they will weaken.

Excellent! I use both an electric and manual. If you find manual brushing is good enough why buy an expensive electric brush? You've done the right thing!

Remember it isn't just good brushing that improves oral hygiene, a healthy diet is important too.

serpico786

what is the returns policy with amazon?

if i want to give this one back (and opt for the oral-b 8500 professional for £35 in tesco).... would i have to pay the return postage?

siva

serpico786 wrote:

what is the returns policy with amazon?

if i want to give this one back (and opt for the oral-b 8500 professional for £35 in tesco).... would i have to pay the return postage?

Amazon are very good with returns. Once you inform that you want to return an item and it is approved (very few exclusions), you can print a label with prepaid postage from Amazon website and send the item to them. They refund it fairly promptly as well.

Siva

vk2003

chazza wrote:

hmm with all this talk, i have cancelled my order, to be honest i find manual brushing better. vk2003 discussion about gum damaged should be read, if you brush to hard ono the gums, they will weaken.

Chazza

I still recommend the Oral B electric toothbrushes (not their sonic version though) over a manual brush. The maximum gum recession I see usually relates to manual brushing with the brush being moved from front to back in the horizontal plane (scrubbing) or vertically top to bottom. Hence the modified bass technique of brushing mentioned before to avoid these issues.

I popped into boots today, and they have the Oral B 7000 FOR £28.32 at the moment. They are a steal at this price - get one

:beer: