Written by Dr. Logan Veath

Many people are very much tied to the tried and true method. The method that has been taught and shown to work for the long term. As a dentist I am finding people are pretty receptive to new ideas but getting them to change and fully embrace them is a little more difficult. If you are a tried and true manual toothbrush user, let me see if I can entertain you with some pretty good reasons why you should give an electric toothbrush a try.

To begin, there is no true scientific literature that states an electric toothbrush is superior to a regular toothbrush. However, my experience through the use of one and clinical observations at my practice in Shelby County, Iowa I have found the majority of people who use an electric toothbrush have better hygiene than those who don’t. Those that have switched to an electric toothbrush have improved their oral hygiene. Another observation I have made is the recession caused by vigorous scrubbing becomes stable when the electric toothbrush is used properly. These are the reasons I believe everyone should try an electric toothbrush. Once you’ve tried one, go ahead and fall in love!

1. Brushstrokes per minute – can your manual technique really compare?
The average person who uses a regular toothbrush brushes at a rate of approx. 100
brushstrokes a minute (bpm). This isn’t too bad. However, the Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush,
which we sell at cost in our office, Legendary Dental, does 31,000 brush strokes a minute. That is quite a difference. Now if you think about it in two minutes of brushing (the prescribed amount of time), you have a regular toothbrusher doing 200 bpm versus 62,000 bpm. In order for the average person to equal the electric toothbrush’s bpm, it would take the person 10 hours and 20 minutes of brushing. Yikes! Anyone can see that something will get a lot cleaner the greater the amount of brushstrokes used. It is more efficient to use an electric toothbrush.

2. Calling all people with sensitive teeth! It changes your brushing style.
One of the changes I noticed after switching to an electric toothbrush is the difference in my
brushing technique. If any of you have seen me, one of the major topics I always discuss is how to brush properly. I find many of my patients and me included scrub our teeth like we are trying to get dried mud off a floor. We try to do small fast strokes with a lot of pressure. This actually works to remove food, plaque and debris. However, it also causes damage to our gums. After a prolong period of time, people will find their gums begin to recede, which exposes the root surfaces of the teeth. Also, they will begin to notice that exposed root surface becomes dished out. Finally, the patient generally starts to have sensitivity. The electric toothbrush helps the user stop scrubbing their teeth. It gives the person both visual and audible cues to let them know they are brushing too hard. The nice part about these toothbrushes is that the user just needs to lightly hold the toothbrush and slowly move it around the mouth.

3. Remember that hour glass timer as a kid? It’s back. Sort of.
Many people believe they are brushing two minutes. However, the average person isn’t. They
might make it to a minute to a minute and a half. Unless that person focuses on actually timing
themselves, they just aren’t meeting the standard amount of time necessary for good oral hygiene. The electric toothbrush on the other hand has a built-in timer. This timer has 30 second intervals to help notify you when you need to move to another quadrant. After two minutes, the brush will shut off. Another great feature is the ability to increase the time by changing the toothbrush settings.

4. The way it makes you feel
No, it’s not the same feeling as a surprise trip to Hawaii but I still can’t say this enough. When you use the electric toothbrush, you will find that your teeth and mouth feel amazing. Your teeth will have the nice slick smooth feeling, just like after you get them cleaned at our office. I can attest to this because I switched from a Sonicare electric toothbrush to a regular toothbrush to an Oral-B electric toothbrush and back to the Sonicare. I found the electric toothbrush did a better job. After cleaning my teeth over this experiment, my hygienist agreed my oral hygiene was better with the use of an electric toothbrush.

With how fast life moves and the need to properly care for your teeth. A smart choice would be to try an electric toothbrush. It may take a couple of days to get use to and yes they are more expensive than a regular toothbrush, but the end result will have you smiling, along with your dentist.

If you are interested in more information or purchasing an electric toothbrush, you can give us a call at (712) 340-0333 or stop in at 1809 21st St, Harlan, IA. I can also be reached at https://harlandentist.com