Electric Toothbrushes

whistler-alison

Hi - can anyone help me please? If you take the head off your Sonicare toothbrush, does the base vibrate or does it just vibrate with the head on it?

Mine isn't vibrating with as much power as it was. I think maybe my OH knocked it off the bathroom shelf although he is denying it. I'm not sure if it is just the head which is broken or the whole thing. If I take the head off the base, the base doesn't vibrate - just makes this high pitched noise. But if I put the head on, it does vibrate a bit but not as it was. The trouble is, because the heads are so expensive, it will cost me a lot of money to find out if it is the base unit that is at fault. I cannot see any obvious damage, but I am wondering if the metal plate in the head is the mechanism that creates the vibration. :think:

If anyone can give me any clues, I'd be very grateful.

Toothsmith

It is the head that generates the sonic action.

It's quite likely that it is the head that has been damaged, as there's not much to break within the handle.

How old is the brush? Could it be that the battery isn't as powerful as it once was? Is it fully charged?

whistler-alison

Hi - yes Toothsmith. That was the first thing I did was to charge it up to make sure, though I had charged it just a few days before. The brush is over 4 years old so it might be that it has just given out (though by the price of them I'd hope they would last longer) and that my OH didn't knock it off (my only evidence is that he was pretty sloshed and that the brush wasn't where I usually leave it ). I phoned Phillips and she said that the base unit vibrates too, but she didn't sound very convincing. What she also didn't say, which I have just dicovered on a trip to Boots, is that they now make the heads to fit both the Adavance (which I have) AND the Elite (which I would buy to replace mine) so I can buy a replacement head, try it out, and if it doesn't work I haven't lost anything because it will fit a new one too. If I can find a small size one for my little mouth - though the Elite heads do not look as bulky as the Advance ones so I might get away with a standard one.

frivolous_fay

I've got an elite. The unit doesn't vibrate when you take the head off - just makes a faint whining. Don't know if yours works the same way, but ours work using a magnetic base on the heads (less working parts and so that the unit can be sealed, I suppose?)

One thought... ours supposedly has a function where it eases you in to using it, and doesn't work too powerfully for the first few goes - to activate this, you're meant to hold down the on button... that said... I don't think ours has ever worked, and AFAIK it's been on full power since the word go. Could yours be on this low setting?

whistler-alison

Hi - thanks for both of your replies and kind help. Yes my base makes a whining noise too and I guessed it seems correctly that it was the plates in the head which actually made the vibrations. Anyway, I got myself some of the heads which fit both models, fitted one to the base and it works like a dream :j and I now have clean feeling teeth again . Also, the standard size head is a lot less bulky so I am happy with that too. So much for the Phillips customer helpline. I guess they just want you to spend more money with them . Thanks again for your help.

lebond

I used a sonic electric toothbrush called Lebond. The cleaning effectiveness is excellent. I feel my teeth is very clean and white now.