by Marie-Luise Stromer

Created on: August 31, 2010

About two years ago when I went to the dentist’s to have plaque removed (which I have done every four months) the assistant said that my gums didn’t look too good  because I obviously used too much force when brushing and she asked which toothbrush I used. I answered, “Oral-B Professional Care 5000, you recommended it to me.” She wasn’t embarrassed at all but went on, “We know better now, you should use Oral-B Sonic Complete, it’s more advanced technologically.”  The advertising slogan ‘Recommended by Dentists’ is true in my case. Because they’re really convinced of the quality or because they get nice presents from the company every now and then I don’t know.

Oral-B is still sold under the name Braun (this German firm was founded in 1921, it’s  famous world-wide for its excellent industrial design), yet in 1967 the Gillette company acquired a majority holding of the firm. In 1963 Braun developed the first electric toothbrush, and in 1991 the world’s first electric toothbrush with a round cup-shaped brush head and innovative oscillating movement was launched. This innovation has become the most successful electric toothbrush worldwide and one of the main product categories in the Gillette portfolio.

Both Oral-B types I’ve had are rechargeable electric toothbrushes - also known as ‘power’ toothbrushes - using oscillating technology (when fully charged they can be used for twelve days without recharging according to the leaflet, I haven‘t tested this). The main difference between them and manual toothbrushes is that you don’t move your hand up and down but only guide the brush head to all parts of the mouth, the toothbrush then does the brushing action itself.

The bristles of an Oral-B Sonic Complete toothbrush vibrate extremely fast, they generate as many as 30,000 strokes per minute in contrast to the 20,000 of the Oral-B Professional Care 5000. It isn’t necessary to press hard and scrub  which so often results in irritated gums.

The body of the toothbrush looks good in dark blue, light blue and silver. It lies well in one’s hand, the back is covered with a rubber like material so that it doesn’t slip out of the user’s hand if wet. What I find tricky, however, is that the on/off button lies precisely under my thumb. One may think that this is where it should be so that the toothbrush can be switched on

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