The Black Friday deals are upon us, but you’ve probably heard already. The late November shopping event is famous for bringing us all the electric deals under the sun, including cheap TV offers and Playstation 5 sales.
That said, if there is one thing you should buy this Black Friday, it’s a new electric toothbrush. Not just because these handy oral cleansing devices will be much cheap than usual but because your old manual toothbrush is ready for an upgrade. To be fair, it was ready six months, maybe even a year ago.
The best electric toothbrushes are much more than just an expensive bathroom ornament you’ll never use. According to an 11-year-long cohort study published in 2019, people using electric toothbrushes “increased the number of teeth retained” compared to people using manual brushes. Not to mention, electric toothbrush users had healthier gums and experienced less tooth decay in general.
Another study from 2013 found that people “ using powered toothbrushes demonstrated clinical and statistical improvement in overall plaque scores.” “Powered toothbrushes offer an individual the ability to brush the teeth in a way that is optimal in terms of removing plaque and improving gingival health, conferring good brushing technique on all who use them, irrespective of manual dexterity or training”, the researchers added.
Here are three more reasons to take advantage of the Black Friday electric toothbrush deals.
Electric toothbrushes can help you brush for the required amount of time
We all know that we must brush our teeth at least twice a day for at least two minutes at a time, but without using an electric toothbrush with a built-in timer, it’s hard to tell how long you’ve been brushing. Two minutes can feel a long time when you aren’t staring at your smartphone's screen, let alone when you’re brushing your teeth. Most electric toothbrushes, even the most basic ones, such as the Ordo Sonic+, have this feature nowadays, making it easier to keep to the two-minute time limit.
Electric toothbrushes can teach you how to brush properly
Some premium models, like the Oral-B iO Series 9 and the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige, can connect to smartphones via Bluetooth. Using this connection, the electric toothbrush can provide real-time feedback on your brushing technique in the app, teaching you how to look after your teeth correctly. Some apps go the extra mile and even score your scrubbing efforts, although this kind of gamification might be a bit hit-and-miss. Kids love it, though.
Electric toothbrushes can help preserve gum health
There is one more trick up in electric toothbrushes’ metaphorical sleeve: they often have pressure sensors built-in with which they can sense if you’re pressing the device against your gums too hard.
A common brusher mistake, applying too much pressure can cause the gums to bleed and expose more sensitive areas at the bottom of your teeth. Even basic electric toothbrushes, such as the Colgate Hum Smart Rhythmic Sonic Electric Toothbrush, have pressure sensors connected to a LED light on the toothbrush's body; when you press too hard, the light comes on. Feedback loops don’t get much simpler than that.
