Electric Toothbrushes

Patients often come to Redwood Dental Smiles in Castro Valley with questions about the vast number of oral hygiene products available to them. A lot of people are considering whether to buy electric toothbrushes and we want to help our patients understand the benefits and drawbacks.


With a manual toothbrush, people should brush for two full minutes twice a day. Studies have shown that electric toothbrushes do not get better results than manual toothbrushes that are being used properly, but most people do not use manual toothbrushes correctly. An electric toothbrush can be set to a timer and is able to brush thousands of times per minute. Some also come with settings to inform the user if they are brushing too hard.


Electric toothbrushes are particularly beneficial to people with motor control problems or who have experienced tooth decay in the past. Many modern ones come with phone apps that reward children for improving their brushing or inform users if they are skipping over tooth surfaces. The expense of these is obviously higher than for regular toothbrushes, but they can spare people struggling with their oral hygiene from needing extensive restorative work.


Redwood Dental Smiles is operated by Dr. Vijay Munagala at 20212 Redwood Rd, Suite 101, Castro Valley, California, 64546. To schedule an appointment, visit Redwood Dental Smiles or call 510-886-6416.


 

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