What is a powered toothbrush?

The right kind of toothbrush can remove twice as much plaque as the kind you may be using now. Dentist and prosthodontist Jonathan Levine, DMD, explains.

Transcript

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[MUSIC PLAYING] In a power brush, it's really doing all of that work for you. You're getting about 48,000 motions back and forth to take that sticky plaque off.

00:07

And it's really doing the work in areas that are very hard to reach.

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A power toothbrush is using these motions, these blade-like motions, which are basically, these nylon and rubber bristles, to effectively remove plaque.

00:28

It's rotating, oscillating, and in fact, pulsating to blast the plaque off the teeth in a very

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safe manner. You see, plaque is very sticky. Think of ice on a windshield and a wiper

00:41

blade trying to take it off. You need this back and forth motion to be able to remove this sticky plaque.

00:47

Well, 48,000 motions you're getting of these rotating, oscillating, pulsating-type bristle

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heads in one minute. And because of that, it effectively removes the plaque. We recommend the power brush from Oral-B for really,

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all of our patients because we're seeing the best clinical results for them. In a power brush, it's really doing all of that work for you.

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You're getting about 48,000 motions back and forth to take that sticky plaque off. And it's really doing the work in areas

01:19

that are very hard to reach. So we think of areas behind the front teeth, way back in the mouth.

01:25

Well, this rotating, oscillating, pulsating-type motion in these power brushes really do an effective job to remove this plaque in very hard

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to get at areas. In manual brushing, because the plaque is left behind and because it's so sensitive to proper technique,

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people could actually hurt themselves because people normally brush too hard. So what's important with manual brushing

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is you have to use kind of of a soft touch technique. And you have to really follow your technique that your dental professionals are setting up for you.