A question that I frequently get from my patients and friends is –“Which toothbrush technology is the best; Oral-B’s oscillating technology or Philips Sonicare toothbrush collection?”
Many clinical studies have proven that electric toothbrushes hold an advantage over manual brushing, especially when it comes to removing plaque, but there is no clear leader when it comes to the technology. According to Cochrane review, (the holy bible of all evidence-basedresearch), the oscillating-rotating power brush provided slightly improved reductions in gingivitis and increased plaque removal when compared to the sonic brush. However,the results with other trails are varying and conflicting results among individual studies.
Both Oral-B/Braun and Philips have been around for more than 30 years and are recognised as the industry leaders in modern toothbrush technology however, the choice between Oral-B oscillating technology or Philips Sonicare comes down to a matter of personal preference. If you are new to electric toothbrushing and are unsure which type to choose here’s a bit of an overview into these.
Oscillating Rotary Toothbrushes: Oscillating rotary toothbrushes have bristles which are usually arranged in a circle on a head which oscillates back and forth. More recent technologies have incorporated features such as, ‘3-D’ by Braun which combines oscillating, vibrating, and pulsating brush head movements to remove more plaque than a single head motion.
Oscillating toothbrushes generally have a brushing action ranging from 2500 to 7500 rotations per minute as opposed to roughly 300 per minute when using a manual toothbrush. This is what allows the electric oscillating toothbrush to remove much more plaque, although a downside reported by some people is that this can feel a little too harsh for them on their gums.
Rotary, oscillating and pulsating brushes are a relatively new addition to Braun’s/ Oral B products and with this addition of the pulsating motion can now create movements of up to 40,000 pulses per minute on the higher end models. These high frequency movements create a ‘non-contact’ cleaning action, just like a regular sonic toothbrush which can agitate the fluids in the mouth and clean below the gum-line where the bristles can’t reach.
Sonic Toothbrushes:Like oscillating rotary toothbrushes sonic toothbrushes have rotating and oscillating features to remove plaque, but they also benefit from moving a lot faster. Sonic brushes typically offer 12,000-24,000 oscillations or 24,000-48,000 movements per minute, compared to a maximum of 7500 rotations per minute with a standard oscillating toothbrush. This extra-fast movement in theory breaks the food particles and bacteria away from gum line.
In addition, sonic toothbrushes also have another method which is to use a technique called ‘fluid dynamics’. In this the high frequency and intense vibrational speed of the bristles ‘agitate’ the water and other fluids in the mouth to the extent that its reach extends beyond the actual brush contact points. This means the brushing covers more surface area, even beyond where the bristles can physically reach for example: under the gum line and between teeth and bridge work.
Ultrasonic Toothbrushes: This should not be confused with Sonic toothbrushes, though they depend on physical motion to clean the teeth.An ultrasonic toothbrush is one that uses a very high frequency (20,000Hz or 2,400,000 movements per minute) of vibration referred to as ultrasound to remove plaque and bacteria from the teeth.
The high frequency waves, and low in amplitude means the bacterial chains found in the mouth that make up plaque are broken up by the vibration. This means the brush can clean the teeth simply by resting the brush on it. One drawback would be since the toothbrush uses high frequency, this should not be used with people with artificial pacemakers in the heart.
As a conclusion, we have no clear winner, but rather two very proficient options. The more recent and high-end Braun Oral-B toothbrushes are now approaching the speed of the Philips Sonicare brushes and the decision depends on which brushing motion you prefer. Maybe quite simply go for the one that has an offer now!