Should You Get an Electric Toothbrush?

One of the first things you probably learned to do was brush your teeth. This is because oral health is absolutely crucial to overall health. There are over 600 species of bacteria in your mouth. Don’t worry, most of them are harmless. Over time, however, harmful bacteria can start to encroach on your health if you aren’t taking proper care of your teeth and gums.

Forgetting to brush or even brushing badly can lead to gingivitis, bone decay, or tooth decay, to name a few problems. All of these cause serious problems because they must be addressed by a specialist and are often very expensive.

If you dread going to the dentist, there may be a solution to keep your nerves at ease during your visits: an electric toothbrush.

You have probably seen electric toothbrush ads, but have you ever looked into the benefits of switching from your manual toothbrush?

Interestingly, the American Journal of Dentistry and the British Dental Journal recommend electric toothbrush use to improve not only oral but overall health.

Because electric toothbrushes can brush more 28,000 strokes per minute, they are much more powerful than manual toothbrushes. If you can brush the same number with your manual toothbrush, you are either lying or deserve a Guinness World Record. Because electric toothbrushes create so many more brush strokes, they do a much better job at cleaning plaque.

In fact, one study conducted by the American Dental Association showed that “The electric toothbrush cleans away more plaque in two minutes compared to manual brushing in 6 minutes.” Not only this, but a survey sent to 16,000 new electric toothbrush users reported that the new method of brushing was much more effective.

When you go to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned, you may have noticed that your dental hygienist uses an electric toothbrush to polish your pearly whites. Actually, if you brush carefully, using an electric toothbrush can be as good at cleaning your teeth as going to the dentist! I can’t recommend replacing your biannual checkup with an electric toothbrush, but that is really impressive!

Finally, a great reason to switch to electric is because these toothbrushes are designed to reach hard-to-clean areas like behind back molars. Also, it is meant to stimulate the gums around the teeth in order to keep them healthier than ordinary toothbrushes.

Happy Brushing!