Everything you need to know about electric toothbrushes

In life, there are two camps: those who use an electric toothbrush and those who don't. There's a kind of snobbery about using an electric toothbrush, a bit like the top of the class, "my dentist told me it was better." We also hear several things like "I tried it and since then I can't do without my electric toothbrush." ​​There are also those who play on both sides, electric toothbrush at home and manual toothbrush on the go. In this short article, we're going to try to give you our point of view on this very thorny problem! Here we go

Electric toothbrush: the proposed advantages vs. the reality of studies on the subject:

Much of the debate revolves around whether an electric toothbrush is better than a manual toothbrush. According to electric toothbrush manufacturers, brushing your teeth with an electronic toothbrush is much more effective. We did our own research on the subject. We poked around the internet to try to find independent studies. We found some results, although it's always difficult to know who was behind the studies and what the intended purpose was. Before giving you these raw figures, it seems obvious to us that only electric toothbrush manufacturers have an interest in proving their effectiveness: their companies' livelihoods are based on this premise: "superior effectiveness." Otherwise, what's the point of buying a more expensive toothbrush that pollutes, is bulky, requires recharging, and makes an unpleasant noise when used?

With a lot of advertising, manufacturers invite us to believe that electric toothbrushes are much more effective than manual toothbrushes. These ads feature fake oral health researchers like good old Mac Lesggy (a graduate of the Paris agro school like me :) )!

We found a source that seems reliable and quite large to us and which gives this conclusion following a grouping of 56 studies published between 1964 and 2011 on a total of 5068 people:

- 11% reduction in dental plaque in the entire mouth but especially in easily accessible areas but which specifies that the benefits that this can bring for long-term dental health are imprecise.

Wow, what a shock, honestly I was really surprised by such a small difference. My initial assumption being that only electric toothbrush manufacturers have an interest in funding studies or theses of this type, I expected to find a nice notable difference and irrefutable proof.

Instead, it says, " The long-term benefits for dental health are unclear" and "Few studies reported side effects; reported side effects were localized and transient."

What normal person would buy an expensive, bulky, polluting, and noisy toothbrush for an imprecise long-term benefit to their dental health? The answer is as simple as that: no one.

But luckily for them, the substance doesn't matter when you have the means to influence your thinking. There's mass marketing and blind faith in technology; it's expensive, it's electronic, TV, and my dentist, "sponsored" by the electric toothbrush manufacturer, all tell me it's better, so it is better!

Electric toothbrush known disadvantages

We saw in the previous section that the benefits of brushing effectiveness were imprecise, even in manufacturer-commissioned studies on the subject. For many dentists, there is no difference between manual and electric brushing. The important thing is the consistency of brushing.

In the list of disadvantages of electric brushing we can easily list the most known:

- purchase price (€250 for the most sophisticated ones!!)

- pollution linked to the complexity of the product and its components: battery etc.

- made in China

- clutter

- bleeding gums

- need to recharge it

- unpleasant noise when brushing

- limited access to the back teeth and the back surface of the front teeth.

- brushing time is often shorter because you feel like you've done the job better.

- big useless gadget (that's my personal point of view)

Hope this helps you see things more clearly.

See you soon.

Discover our featured eco-friendly products:

Our rechargeable toothbrushes , our children's toothbrush , our razor and our shaving brush .