Plaque is gross. It’s not just a hard layer that needs to be scrubbed off your teeth regularly … it’s a crunchy film made up of old food particles, saliva and bacteria.
Plaque is the stuff of nightmares, and it can lead to some serious problems like cavities, gum disease and all sorts of other awful things that could set you back a pretty penny at the dentist.
We all learn early on how important it is to brush our teeth every morning and night. Keeping our teeth and mouths clean is such an important part of staying healthy. It’s strange to think that so many of us, myself included, tend to not really keep up with it as well as we should. For me, it took a couple of cavities to really get me to take it seriously, and the dentist recommended a couple of things. A water pik and an electric toothbrush.
I was brushing with my Oral-B Pro 100 this morning trying to think of what to review next and as I rinsed and squeaked my finger across my shiny white teeth, I realized exactly what I needed to talk about! An electric toothbrush really does make all the difference in the world. If brushing your teeth is a dull routine for you, it adds a little gadget goodness to the experience. For me, that’s all I need, but it feels great, too!
The Oral-B brand is recommended by dentists all the time. Mine did, and I’ve been using their electric brushes ever since! It’s a good solid product that does what it sets out to do, and it feels and behaves like a high-end device. The Pro 100 in particular is a great toothbrush!
The Pro-100 is designed as an entry point into the electric toothbrush world, so it’s efficient, simple and easy to use! This thing is rechargable, only needs one button to operate, senses brush pressure, and has an automatic brushing timer built into it! It’s super handy! I have probably disappointed the Oral-B brand by never really upgrading to a more fancy brush after getting their entry-level product, but it just work so well!
Let’s talk a little bit about all these feature. The first thing that sort of puts people off of electric toothbrushes is the small round brush. It really doesn’t seem like it should be enough to get the job done, but it makes sense when you think about it. The brush head is designed to cup a single tooth and focus its oscilations on that surface as completely as possible. It helps you to be extremely aware of each tooth as you brush, and does a great job of getting into those nooks and crannies on and around each individual tooth. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s a great brushing experience once you figure it out!
Something else an electric brush is just better at is plaque removal. Cavities are almost always the result of missed plaque deposits in the complex crevices of the molars. It’s so easy to miss the corners and deeper areas around these teeth with a manual brush. An electric brush also offers a consistent and strong brushing action without relying so much on your own arm strength or lack-there-of to get the job done. The Pro 100 is designed with this as its primary function, removal of stubborn plaque. This is a big part of why this tool is so regularly recommended by dentists after a cavity filling!
Another thing you can count on the Pro 100 to tackle is gum health. It scrubs right up to the seam between your gums and your teeth, and even gets under that little edge there a little, pulling missed particles from a space you usually don’t even think about. Taking your brushing one step further and massaging your gums a bit, which leads us to another great benefit of this tool.
A lot of people brush far too aggressively. Putting too much pressure and scrubbing too hard on and around your gums can actually do more harm than good, irritating them and leading to gum recession, where the roots of your teeth slowly become slightly exposed over time. That’s absolutely terrible for your gums, and having a tool that not only does the scrubbing for you, but detects pressure and slows or stops brushing to let you know you’re pushing too hard is so helpful! I wish I had had one of these as a kid, it would have helped me realize that I am a very aggressive brusher, and could have saved me so much mouth irritation over the years!
Now that you’re brushing the whole tooth and not pushing too hard, we need to talk about how long you’re brushing. Are you actually doing the whole two minutes? Be honest. There have been plenty of gimmicks in the past to help you know when two minutes of brushing is up from singing a song in your head to toothbrushes that actually play a song in your head but honestly, the best option is a timer. The Oral-B Pro 100 has a built-in brush timer to make sure you’re getting that full two minutes of brushing and that really showed me how bad I had been at brushing for so long! I was usually just brushing hard and fast and calling it a day. The first time I tried to go until the timer buzzed, I felt like I had been brushing for ages! Clearly my perception of time is way off, so this was a big win.
One of the aspects of having a rechargeable brush like this (that is a plus and a minus) is the fact that you’re using a whole outlet for your toothbrush. It has a nice little charging stand that it sits on that plugs into the wall. But that means that, if there is more than one person using this bathroom, you’ll be unplugging a toothbrush every time you need that outlet. It’s a pain, for sure, but I think that’s a small price to pay for healthy teeth. Plus, not having to fiddle with batteries is always a bonus.
By the time you’ve really gotten used to this brush, odds are you’ll need to change the brush head. It may be of interest, then, to know that this model works with multiple Oral-B electric brush heads! This includes the classic Cross Action, Sensitive Clean, Precision Clean, Floss Action and 3D White brush heads. That means that no matter what you’re trying to do or how fancy you want your brushing to be, you’ll never have to buy a new handle! I use the 3D White and swear by it!
This little handle isn’t all about bells and whistles. It doesn’t connect to an app, it doesn’t text message your dentist when you get a tooth ache, it doesn’t sing you a song, it just brushes your teeth very well and helps you time it right. That’s it. Because of that, the whole thing comes in at only $49.94 on Amazon, which is a steal, if you ask me! I couldn’t recommend the Pro 100 any more highly, it’s kept me out of the dentist’s chair for a good long while now aside from cleanings, and I think it belongs on any responsible person’s sink.
About the Author:
Ever since a young George was disappointed with a toy that did match up to the advertising, he became a tireless advocate for consumers. He’ll review anything that folks have to spend their hard-earned dollars on. George is grateful that he gets to use his skills as a writer and an artist to help connect with consumers and help them make the best decisions possible.
This article is for informational purposes only and reflects the author’s independent opinion. Readers should verify details directly with the manufacturer or retailer before making a purchase decision.
