Should I buy an electric toothbrush?
While slowly sipping a coffee today, I thought about how much coffee I drink daily - decaf is almost all of my non-food water intake on some days - and whether I could prevent or reverse any teeth yellowing (assuming it causes some) with an “upgrade” to my toothbrush. Yes, I’m still using a manual one. It has ultra-soft bristles and is pretty cheap to replace.
And so I went ahead and asked Gemini and ChatGPT, with research mode enabled, something like this:
Act like an unbiased researcher. Consult trustworthy studies, avoid at all costs:
- pop science
- studies with conflict of interest or paid by those who benefit from selling toothbrushes and their heads
- studies that aren't trustworthy or malformed
Question: should I get an electric/sonic toothbrush
Driving factors:
When compared to a regular ultra soft toothbrush...
Will it make my teeth whiter
Will it reduce the odds of cavities
Will it damage my gums
Will it help with remineralization of teeth (assuming this is possible)I was expecting them to tell me it’s time to switch. In fact, I thought I had likely been lazy not switching earlier to the new, superior means of brushing.
The agents started browsing the web, reading hundreds of studies…
I did not get the answer I expected. The gist, along with lots of details I will omit here:
If you already brush carefully for two minutes twice daily with fluoride toothpaste and have no dexterity/adherence problem, a high-quality soft or ultra-soft manual toothbrush is a rational, evidence-based, inexpensive choice; there is no compelling hard-outcome evidence that you need to upgrade to electric/sonic. The ADA likewise states that either manual or powered brushes can be used effectively, while recommending soft bristles, gentle pressure, two minutes twice daily, and fluoride toothpaste.Wow, so is it all marketing then? Did they really manage to make toothbrushes a recurring revenue business like printers despite little evidence of benefits?
Now, to be fair, there are some situations where they are beneficial:
- If you brush for less than two minutes without the beep beep of electric brushes.
- If you apply too much force (3 newtons is the limit, apparently) when using a manual toothbrush.
I’m gonna stick to my small, ultra-soft toothbrush. It’s cheaper, cuter and needs no charging.