The Best Electric Toothbrushes for Your Pearly Whites
It’s time I came clean: I hate brushing my teeth. I do it because I have to, but it’s a time-consuming, uncomfortable process—two minutes standing in front of the mirror can feel like an eternity. My dentist says I brush too harshly as well. And don’t even get me started on flossing.
Electric toothbrushes make the whole experience easier. Their vibrations and oscillations can more effectively get rid of plaque on your teeth and gums, and most brush models have a timer that encourages you to brush for the full two minutes. We’ve tested several types, from basic models to the fancy ones with oscillating brushes and everything in between. We found that a good brush doesn’t need to cost you more than a few Hamiltons. Listed below are the best electric toothbrushes you can buy. We also have eco-friendly nonelectric options if you don’t want to own yet another device that you have to recharge.
Christopher Null’s reporting contributed to this guide.
Updated April 2022: We’ve added Izzo’s Oral Care Kit and Oclean’s X Pro Elite to our Honorable Mentions. We’ve also added more information on alternative brushes, including a new recommendation, SymplBrush.
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Photograph: Colgate
Best Smart Toothbrush
Colgate Hum
The Colgate Hum (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our top pick if you want a smart brush. It’s slim and light, with a small brush head that can reach to the back of your mouth without causing discomfort. It also connects to a companion mobile app to offer insight about your habits. The Hum costs significantly less than most app-connected brushes, and the mobile app’s features are superior to other options.
The system accurately tracks your brushing and shows you spots you’ve missed. Also, you don’t have to open the app every time you brush your teeth. Your brushing sessions are stored on the brush for 10 days, and they get uploaded to your phone when you open the app. (You can also collect “smile points” every time you brush, which translate to a few dollars off things like replacement brush heads.)
If you don’t have a free outlet in your bathroom, there’s a version that takes two AAA batteries. The biggest downside is that the Hum has only one type of brush head, so you can’t swap out different heads made for sensitive teeth. A brush head subscription costs $5, and Colgate sends you a new one every three months. The Hum comes with a charging base and a travel case.
★ Cheaper Alternative: The new Hum Smart Rhythm ($25) is a battery-powered brush with two cleaning modes. (The regular Hum has three.) It has less cleaning power overall, but it would be great for a kid’s first electric brush.
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Photograph: Amazon
Best Oscillating Brush
Oral-B Pro 1000
You don’t need a smart brush. You can spend a little bit less and get a nice oscillating brush head if you go with Oral-B’s Pro 1000.
Oral-B’s electric toothbrushes all have oscillating brush heads, which are those circular bristles that get right in between all your teeth. The Pro 1000 has been around for a while and continues to outshine more expensive models with fancier features.
The price is right—we see it regularly discounted to around $40—and it’s rechargeable, but the whole thing is chunky and can easily get grimy from toothpaste. You need to rinse it thoroughly after every brush. It’s so powerful that my first few brushes left me feeling dizzy, but it has a wide array of compatible brush heads. You can subscribe to get them mailed to you automatically every few months.
★ What About the Smart Oral-B iO?: I tried the iO Series 8 in 2020 and wasn’t a fan of the app or the price. In 2021, Oral-B released the slightly less expensive Series 6 ($150), which is the fourth of the iO lineup, with five cleaning modes. It’s a fantastic brush in terms of cleaning, but other brushes have better apps. I found the tracking to be much better while I actually brushed, but I would occasionally see my post-brushing coverage stat as 0 percent.
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Photograph: Philips
Best Cheap Electric Toothbrush
Philips One by Sonicare
if you want to spend as little as possible and don’t need the most powerful vibrations, get the Philips One.
It’s thin enough that it comes very close to feeling like a regular toothbrush. It offers a gentle vibration that cuts through plaque, and while it takes more effort to use than a bigger, more powerful brush head, I still prefer it to a manual brush. Plus, it’s good to stay in the habit of brushing thoroughly instead of feeling like an electric toothbrush will do all the work for you. It takes one AAA battery, or you can pay an extra $15 or so and get the rechargeable version. It comes with a small case for traveling. For $5 every three months, you can opt into a brush-head subscription with or without a battery.
Source: The Best Electric Toothbrushes for Your Pearly Whites