Electric Toothbrushes – Better Cleaning or Just Lazy?

An essential part of your overall well-being and health is dental hygiene. Although we get told this again and again from a young age, many of us still forget about it. Brushing your teeth is the integral part of proper tooth cleaning, which you can do either with an electric toothbrush, or a manual one. If the advertisements are to be believed, electric toothbrushes are far superior to manual ones. But is that true?

From an early age, we are introduced to the nylon bristles of toothbrushes. Our parents try to turn brushing into a game, so that we keep it up. However, as soon as the parental leashes start to loosen a bit, many of us also start to brush less frequently. This all changes again during puberty, where you suddenly find yourself attracted to others, and want to make sure your teeth and mouth are clean for that all important first case, and to avoid bad breath.

What Is an Electric Toothbrush?

The electric toothbrush was invented in 1954 in Switzerland. It was designed specifically for people who had dexterity issues, or motor skills problems. The Broxodent was the very first model out there, and it quickly became hugely popular. Today, electric toothbrushes are available in virtually every store.

Two types of electric brushes now exist, being rotation-oscillation and vibration brushes. Electric toothbrushes are recommended by around 75% of all dentists, although research has shown that there is actually no difference between them and a manual toothbrush. However, this is only true if you use the manual one properly. The rotation-oscillation toothbrushes have been shown to be the best of all.

However, brushing your teeth, regardless of what you use to do it, is only effective if you brush properly, and for two minutes each time. If you don’t stick to those rules, then an electric toothbrush is definitely better for you. In that sense, therefore they are the brush of choice for lazy people. However, the reality is that even people who aren’t lazy per se, simply do not know how to brush properly for all their best intentions. Plus, sticking to two minutes is really difficult without a timer, whereas most electric toothbrushes now vibrate in a different way after that time has passed.

The most modern electric toothbrushes even warn you every 30 seconds. This means that you spend the right amount of time on the front and back of both your top and bottom teeth. What research has shown is that there is almost no difference between the electric and the manual toothbrush, so long as you move the manual one properly and for the required amount of time, which is nearly impossible to do. This isn’t about laziness, it is about being virtually impossible to maintain the right technique for the right amount of time in a consistent manner. As such, if you want to have properly cleaned teeth, the reality is that the electric toothbrush is the only option.