Braun Oral-B Advanced Power 400 battery toothbrush Colour May Vary

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The best electric toothbrushes are clinically proven to do a better job than the manual brushes of old and should be part of everyone’s everyday dental routine. After all, we would all like squeaky clean teeth and a whiter smile – and absolutely no-one enjoys fillings or root canal surgery. What’s more, it delivers an excellent clean, with three modes – Sensitive, Daily Clean and Whitening – that take you all the way from a softer brush that’s easy on the gums to a more intense polish that should help get rid of staining. Battery life, meanwhile, is exceptional; you will easily get through two weeks of brushing and probably three without a recharge. It’s the new king of sensibly priced brushes. The toothbrush uses sonic technology, although it pulses at a lower frequency than the more expensive models above (40,000 pulses per minute). However, my teeth were still left feeling squeaky clean, and I especially liked how the brush has a central silicone bristle to help with removing surface stains.

Battery life is the biggie. It’s now unusual to get an old-school NiMH battery that runs out in less than two weeks and takes most of a day to charge, but they still exist. More modern lithium-ion batteries will give you two to four weeks of brushing – or more – without a recharge, and will take anywhere between three and 12 hours to reach full capacity. Battery life is also solid for a budget brush, while it takes just four hours for a recharge. Most importantly, though, this is a big step up in cleaning from manual brushes or cheaper battery models, and you can kit out the whole family without breaking the bank. As for the brush itself, it feels and works much like a mid-range Sonicare toothbrush. It has four brushing modes designed for cleaning, whiting, sensitive teeth and a gum massage, and a nice, slim handle with a grippy, rubber feel. It switches itself off when the usual two-minute brush is done, and pulses every 30 seconds during use to remind you to brush another quarter of your mouth. Battery life, meanwhile, is brilliant, with enough charge to get you through a good month of brushing before recharging via USB. A great electric toothbrush for not a lot of money, even without the subscription plans. Otherwise, it’s worth looking out for pressure sensors that can warn you when you’re pressing too hard while brushing – or not hard enough. Plus, a brushing timer that sends a pulse through the brush when it’s time to stop brushing (usually two minutes), or time to move to another quadrant of your mouth (roughly every 30 seconds). Seven cleaning modes (daily clean, sensitive, gum care, intense clean, whitening, super sensitive and tongue clean)

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The reason I love this toothbrush so much is the intuitive design coupled with the fact that I can feel the deep-cleaning effects (the closest I’ve got to a hygienist-standard clean at home). Even though it cleans powerfully, it doesn’t feel too harsh on my gums. It also has a remarkably long-lasting battery – I started by testing it daily for four weeks and only had to charge it once in that time. It’s definitely won a permanent place in my bathroom cabinet. Some toothbrushes combine the two actions and are known as rotating-oscillating. This is my personal recommendation to patients and what I use. Other mechanisms of action include pulsing and sonic. Pulsing and sonic are additional features to a rotating, oscillating or rotating-oscillating brush.” Modes are increasingly a big deal, giving you different speeds and patterns optimised for whitening, deep cleaning or sensitive teeth and gums. It’s not clear that all of these make a huge amount of difference, but having a slower, gentler mode that you can switch to a faster, more intense mode can be useful when you’re getting used to a new brush. I want to love it, but I’m not sure I do, as the head is quite wide which makes it hard to reach all the nooks and crannies - although it has been streamlined from the ISSA 2. It has a huge range of 16 different speed settings, although they’re not separated into dedicated ‘modes’ as such, and I actually found that 16 is too many. It has an interval timer, which prompts you to move to a different area of your mouth every 30 seconds for a thorough clean, but again no pressure sensor.

Any damage or injury to yourself, your toothbrush or anything else is entirely your responsibility. This guide is for professional, educational usage only and is offered without guarantee or liability. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are dangerous if short-circuited or mis-handled and can go into thermal runaway and self-ignite if you do not observe all handling and safety precautions. Tools, Parts & Equipment

Looking to replace your old toothbrush or treat yourself to the latest tech? We’ve tested the best electric toothbrushes for every budget

It’s true you can still get the progress reports and ‘journeys’ if you leave your phone in the bedroom – the toothbrush talks to the app via Bluetooth – but in practice I found that I stopped bothering after a few days. On the plus side, those few days’ guidance were enough to change how I brush my teeth. I spend much longer on each zone now, trying to get the little smiley face on the toothbrush’s built-in screen that says I’ve done well. However, finding the best toothbrush for you can be a minefield. Not only do all the toothbrushes look nigh-on identical, but the manufacturers seem to have decided that confusion is good for business, producing several different ranges with different characteristics all at the same time. It’s hard to distinguish between so many similar products, while the boxes and adverts bombard you with pseudo-science and marketing-speak. Original charger (either the circular magnetic charger or the oval Type 3757 charger with central peg) Choosing the best electric toothbrush could make a tangible difference to your general health as well as giving you a better smile. Research into brushing teeth, published in 2016, found that good dental health could slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s and that gum disease can speed up mental decline. Dentists generally recommend brushing with an electric toothbrush over a manual model. However, the best reason to get the DiamondClean 9000 is that you’re still getting the best clean available in the Sonicare range. The Deep Clean + mode might even be too intense for some people, but you can turn down the intensity or switch to the regular Clean or White + mode to enjoy a clean that will leave your teeth feeling polished, and even get rid of much of the plaque and debris that can accumulate between your teeth. Meanwhile, the Gum Health mode is brilliant for treating and toughening up soft gums.