Dental care is paramount to good health. It is a given that you need healthy, sound teeth to eat. Aside from keeping your teeth clean, according to some studies, good oral care to remove bacteria from your mouth may lower your chances of developing cardiovascular disease. Many find the good old standby manual toothbrush to be effective. I, however, do not. I want my teeth to be clean, but find brushing those bothersome wisdom teeth all the way in the back to be a task. Since my child’s dentist suggested a Crest Spinbrush for her, I decided to give it a try.
I had high hopes. I have an awful time keeping those way back molars clean and they didn’t seem to stay clean long at all after a dental cleaning. While I can appreciate a toothbrush that basically does the work for me, the ability to color coordinate toothbrushes for family members and the economy of a Crest Spinbrush Pro (about $6), I just don’t think it did an adequate job reaching those back teeth and scrubbing them clean. However, I did think that the Crest Spinbrush Pro did a better job than a manual toothbrush. It was easy to turn off and on, though on my son’s toothbrush, the toothbrush would not stay turned on; I had to hold the button in to brush his teeth, which tired out my wrist after about a minute and a half. He did drop it a lot, so maybe he messed up the electronic components in side?
I received the Phillips Sonicare Elite E Series7300 to try from BzzAgent, which is a word of mouth advertising company. The first time I tried it, I could have sworn I had just come from the dentist. My teeth felt significantly cleaner and I was able work up to speed over a series of just a few brushings. At first, brushing kind of tickled, but I soon got used to it. It works best with gel toothpastes and recharges easily. It will also shut off in two minutes, the optimal amount of time that dentists recommend that you brush. The replacement heads are a bit expensive, though. However, you only need to replace them about every six months. I found replacements to be the cheapest at BJ’s.
How they stack up:
Crest Spinbrush Pro
toothbrush itself -cheap – about $6
replacement heads – cheap – about as much as the original unit for two heads
uses any kind of toothpaste
battery replacement (requires 2 AA batteries)
didn’t clean well, but better than a manual toothbrush
Sonicare Elite 7300
expensive – about $80 and up
expensive -about $20-$25 for two heads
works best with gelled toothpaste
comes with recharger base, but will hold a charge for several days if necessary
cleaned extremely well, outperformed both manual and Crest Spinbrush Pro for getting my teeth clean.
Conclusion:
In my honest opinion, I think the Sonicare Elite 7300 is well worth the cost. Although I got mine technically free, after trying it, I would have spent the $80 whole heartedly to get this fine machine. It cleaned my back teeth very well, and I truly appreciate the timer on the toothbrush. It reminds me to keep brushing until it shuts off, even though I am trying to hurry through my dental care routine. While the cost of the replacement heads is a bit much, they last about six months. Comparing that with the Crest Spinbrush Pro where you need to replace the heads about every 3-4 months, the cost of the Sonicare Elite 7300 replacement heads will only be $12 more than you would have spent anyway.
