Should you use an Electronic Toothbrush?

electric toothbrushes vs manual toothbrushes

April 7, 2017

Dr. Paltsev

Dr. Paltsev has been practicing at the The Little Green Building since 1998. His areas of interest are restorative dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, dentistry for children, implant and cosmetic dentistry. In simple terms, he likes all aspects of the art and science of the modern dentistry.

With technology nowadays growing at such an insanely fast rate, it’s hard to keep up on what newfangled things you should be switching over to and what you should keep doing like you have all your life. Sometimes we just don’t like change, and other times we just don’t have time to keep up with the latest technology in every aspect of our lives. I know that personally a lot of people even today still stick with manual toothbrushes and there are even more that still don’t fully know the differences. That’s why today I’m here to explain the pros and cons of both electric toothbrushes and manual toothbrushes.

Electric Toothbrush

electric toothbrushes vs manual toothbrushes

Positives

Electric toothbrushes actually bring in multiple benefits compared to their manual counter parts. Most obvious is that they’re much easier to use and to learn to use. As a result of the electric motor doing most of the work for you, you don’t have to worry about your brushing technique like you would with a manual toothbrush. This also means that electric toothbrushes are a great option for children, firstly because they don’t have to master the perfect technique and secondly because electric toothbrushes usually seem fun and many are child-themed or play music. In addition to this, many electric toothbrushes usually have a timer feature, which can help your child (or you) keep track of when you should stop brushing. Plus, on top of all those features, electronic toothbrushes have actually been shown to either work just as well or in many cases better than using a manual toothbrush with the right technique.

Negatives

There are indeed some negatives when it comes to using an electronic toothbrush but most of them are more obvious. For instance, if you begin using an electronic toothbrush you’ll have to worry about charging your toothbrush or changing out the batteries on it, which probably seems like a strange concept to many of us. In addition to that, you’ll also have to bring batteries or a charger along with you when you travel, so if you’re a frequent traveler you might want to have a spare manual brush.

Manual Toothbrush

are manual toothbrushes better for your teeth?

Positives

When it comes to manual toothbrushes their main positives is that they are quite often significantly cheaper than an electric toothbrush, and often times manual toothbrushes are even given out free at the dentist. In addition to that, you can get almost as good results with manual brushing as you can with electronic brushing, so if you have your technique down and it’s something you enjoy then you might not want to give that up. You may also simply prefer the variety and selection that manual brushes offer with their usually being much less variety to shop for when it comes to electronic brushes.

Negatives

The main negative is that while manual toothbrushes are more ready to use and affordable, you end up putting in much more work for what is usually an overall worse cleaning job. You also don’t get the added benefit of having electronic features such as a timer. For many people it’s likely worth putting up with batteries or charging for the vast benefits that electronic toothbrushes offer us.

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