Electric Toothbrush vs Manual – Which Is Better For Oral Health?

Today, we're gonna talk electric toothbrush vs manual toothbrush.  There are many different types of toothbrushes on the market today. Manual, electric, flossing-only, and etc. It can be daunting to know which is best for you and your oral health goals. But don't worry! This blog post will break down all the options so you can make a more informed decision about what's right for you!

Damaging Effects of Plaque Buildup

Now, the first thing that you guys need to know is every single day, plaque is building up in your mouth. Plaque is that soft cookie stuff that forms in your mouth constantly 24/7. Well, that plaque is nothing but bacteria. And if you do not remove that bacteria, you're going to see lots of things that you don't want to see happening in your mouth.

Gingivitis

The first thing that can happen is gingivitis, that's gum disease, a mild form of gum disease. And you will know if you have gum disease when you start seeing your gums start to bleed, your gums will also turn from being pink which is healthy, to red, which means there's an infection. Red is like a warning.

Bad Breath

The next thing that you may notice is that you may have bad breath and this is not something that you really want to experience because it's embarrassing, right?

Loose Teeth

The next thing that you may find is that your teeth might start to get loose and as your teeth get looser and looser, you may find that you will lose your teeth and that is absolutely not the direction that we want you to go in. When you start to feel like your teeth are getting loose and your dentist takes X-rays, there's going to be bone loss and that's when you're in advanced gum disease. Now, you can treat mild gum disease with just basic cleaning, but if you have advanced stages of gum disease, then you may need surgery, or if it's too far progressed, then you're going to have to lose your teeth. So this is what we're trying to avoid.

Benefits of a Manual Toothbrush and Choosing The Right Bristles

Let's start with the basics. Now, a lot of you guys are familiar with the basic soft toothbrush. There are many types of toothbrushes on the market and they are made by many different brands. But the thing that I want you to know is when you're selecting a manual toothbrush, it is super important to choose the right bristles. It's important to know that you have choices when it comes to manual toothbrushes. You can choose between soft bristles, medium bristles, and hard bristles. I recommend and most dentists are gonna recommend that you use soft bristles only, that's right. Soft manual bristles only.

I advise my patients not to get hard, or medium bristles, I know that it is tempting and you may feel like, "Oh, the harder the brush the better the clean." Well, the problem is when you're brushing with a hard or medium bristle toothbrush it's hard on your enamel, it can even take the enamel away and God forbid, if you brush really, really hard, then you're gonna literally scrape the enamel away and guess what? You're gonna have sensitive teeth and we don't want sensitive teeth.

You want to be able to chew ice and have ice cream and some of your favorite cold things, and when you brush with the hard bristle toothbrush or medium bristle, you're going to scrape the enamel away and over time you are going to have tooth sensitivity. When my patients come to me and they say, "Oh, I have sensitive teeth." The first thing that I ask is, "What type of toothbrush do you use? Is it hard or medium?" And more often than not, it is hard or medium. So we are going to toss the hard and medium toothbrushes and only get toothbrushes with soft bristles.

Benefits of An Electric Toothbrush

2-Minute Timers

If you are afraid that you're gonna brush too hard or that you have the wrong type of toothbrush, then I highly recommend that you pick up an electronic toothbrush. Sonic toothbrushes are amazing! The number one reason why I love Sonic toothbrushes is that they have timers. Most of the quality brands will have 2-minute timers.

You should be brushing your teeth for two whole minutes. That's 30 seconds in each section of your mouth, 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds, for two whole minutes. That's just the right amount of time that we prescribe for you to have a full mouth clean experience. The timers on electric toothbrushes are going to beep every 30 seconds to let you know when it's time to switch.

Brushing Modes

Now, some of these Sonic toothbrushes are going to have two or three brushing modes. A good quality brush is gonna have up to five brushing modes. My VIPSmiles toothbrush has five brushing modes. Clean, white, polish, gum care, and sensitive. So if you do have sensitive teeth, I got you covered.

More Powerful Clean

The other thing that I love about Sonic toothbrushes is that you are going to have a much more powerful clean. Most of the quality brands are going to brush your teeth at 30,000,  35,000, or 40,000 brush strokes per minute. Now your hand is not going to be able to brush at 30,000 brush strokes per minute. So you're going to get a superior cleaning experience using an electric toothbrush. If you do have a history of gum disease and you're trying to keep your mouth as clean as possible, or if you have plaque build-up often, and you just want to control it, this is going to be the tool for you.

If you drink coffee, tea, or if you smoke whatever you smoke, you will find that your teeth get stained.   When you pick up one of these electric toothbrushes and that 30,000 to 40,000 brush strokes per minute hit your teeth, you're going to feel like your dentist has cleaned your teeth. After every single brushing experience, your teeth are gonna feel nice and smooth like you left the dentist.

Electric Toothbrush vs Manual Toothbrush

If you've ever used a Sonic/electric toothbrush, I don't know how you could go back to using a regular toothbrush. These toothbrushes are just so superior. You have the stain removal, you have the power that your manual toothbrush won't give you, and they have timers, so you know that you're brushing two whole minutes. I mean you cannot go wrong with an electric toothbrush. And every three months, you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna keep the handle, but you're gonna change your toothbrush head.

The cool thing is if you have more than one person in your family and you want to share the brush you can do that. You can buy one toothbrush and then you can interchange the heads between your family members. I would love for everyone in your family to invest in a Sonic/electric toothbrush, but if you're on a budget and you want to share one brush, you can. And when you remove the stains, you know what's going to happen? Your teeth are going to be whiter. So if you want a whiter stain-free smile that's healthy, you are going to really, really enjoy using a Sonic toothbrush.

How To Use An Electric Toothbrush

Let me explain how to use an electronic toothbrush if you've never used one. You're going to press the power button and you'll hear that sound and you're going to feel it vibrating. It's like a massage for your mouth. And you're going to aim the bristles at the gum line and just move it gently across the gum line. That's where the plaque buildup usually resides.

Now, when you're brushing, I need you to make sure that you're hitting all three surfaces of your teeth. The front, the chewing surface, and the tongue surface. Make sure in each section you're hitting all three surfaces using your timer to guide you, this is very important because you don't want to miss a spot.

It's going to be your personal choice, whether you want to brush with a soft manual toothbrush or an electric toothbrush, but the name of the game is to think of that plaque as evil. It's the evil bacteria that sit on your gums that can cause bad breath, gum disease, and may even cause you to lose your teeth.

Click Here To Join The Celebrity Smile Club

Celebrity Smile Club

I want to share with you my celebritysmile.club. It's a subscription club where every three months I send you everything that you need to keep your smile healthy from your Sonic toothbrushes to soft manual toothbrushes, to toothbrush heads, and even charcoal to keep your teeth stain-free and healthy. I also send you teeth whitening kits and more! So make sure that you click here to join the Celebrity Smile Club.

I hope that you've learned some valuable tips for your oral health and I hope this electric toothbrush vs manual battle helped you decide which option is best for you. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss any of the oral hygiene tips that I share so that you can have a smile just like your favorite celebs!