To brush is manual, to power it is divine!!

Martin Fisher once said “If a patient cannot clean his teeth, no dentist can clean them for him.” This quote helps us realize the role of dental hygiene management at home. Market is bombarded with a variety of dental products including tooth brushes. With so many brushes in the market, we often wonder, which is the best toothbrush to invest in, Power or manual?

Since their inception in 1954, power tooth brushes have been a subject of this ongoing debate. Why would you not be lured into buying a powered tooth brush when the manufacturing company claims that “Reduces up to 2X more plaque than a regular manual toothbrush” or “is proven to remove everyday stains in just two weeks”?

But of course, companies who make these claims are the ones who manufacture these products. Their claims are often supported by well researched studies which also claim that power toothbrushes remove plaque more efficiently that manual ones.

Let’s understand some facts about power toothbrushes:

• You need less skill and manual dexterity to brush properly with a power tooth brush. You just have to keep the bristles over the tooth surfaces and it cleans on its own.
• You need less force to clean the teeth with power toothbrush. So they cause less damage to enamel and dentin
• Small head size of a power tooth brush makes it more acceptable with kids as the small head reaches all nooks and corners of the mouth for better cleaning
• Power toothbrush can be used to motivate inquisitive children and gadget freaks to brush
• Studies have even showed that people tend to brush longer with a power toothbrush, as minimum effort is required.
• Its good for people who lack manual dexterity or physically challenged
• The grip or the handle of power toothbrush is ergonomic and easy to hold for people with bone and joint problems or physically disability.

So the claims made by the manufacturers do hold true. These power toothbrushes offer greater flexibility of use and clean our tooth surfaces better than the manual tooth brushes. But does that mean our very own inexpensive sweet little manual tooth brush is not good at cleaning our teeth. After all we all have been using it since long. The fact is that

• If you use a manual tooth brush the way dentist has taught you, you can really do wonders with it
• You may use a small head manual toothbrush to reach the most difficult areas.
• If you brush properly with a manual tooth brush, you may not injure the gums and abrade the enamel and dentin.

So, I believe that choosing a toothbrush is a very personal decision as far as the comfort and convenience are related. The higher rpm which a power tooth brush offers, makes it more comfortable and less tiring to brush and offers effective cleaning too. But manual tooth brushes are as good if you know the proper use of the brush.

Whatever toothbrush you may decide to buy, what’s really important is – Using it!