Electric vs. Manual Toothbrushes: Which Is Better?

Electric Toothbrush vs. Manual: Differences

Manual and electric toothbrushes are both designed to clean your teeth, but they work in different ways. These differences can impact your oral health. Let's take a look.

Manual Toothbrush

A manual toothbrush is often made with a plastic handle and soft bristles. To use it, just add toothpaste and start brushing.

With a manual toothbrush, you control all the movement, guiding the brush across every surface of your teeth to remove plaque and food.

Manual toothbrushes are lightweight, easy for travel, and simple to replace.

Electric Toothbrush

An electric toothbrush is a more advanced option that moves the bristles for you. Studies have shown that they can remove plaque and food more effectively than manual brushing. You still guide the brush, but it handles most of the work, helping you achieve an optimal cleaning.

What Are the Benefits of an Electric Toothbrush?

Now that you know the differences between an electric toothbrush vs. manual, let's dive into the benefits of an electric toothbrush.

Superior Plaque Removal

Simply stated, rechargeable electric toothbrushes (or "power" toothbrushes) provide superior plaque removal compared to regular manual toothbrushes, a finding supported by major independent reviews and numerous clinical studies.

Ease of Use

While you need to follow a proper technique as recommended by your dentist for effective plaque removal with a regular manual toothbrush, electric toothbrushes provide the cleaning action for you. All you have to do is guide the brush along the surfaces of your teeth.

Once people get the hang of it, many find this method of brushing easier. Likewise, people with arthritis or other similar conditions may find using an electric toothbrush easier.

Electric toothbrushes may help kids brush their teeth more effectively but be sure to check the age recommendations on an electric toothbrush before letting your child use it.

Technology and Features

Generally rich in technology and features, some electric toothbrushes can enable you to improve your brushing habits. Most come with convenient features, such as a brush head or toothbrush holder, bathroom counter storage units, and travel toothbrush chargers.

Hi-tech features may include:

• Brushing modes for specific needs, such as sensitive teeth, whitening benefits, or gum-massaging action
• Pressure sensors to signal when you're brushing too hard and help you protect your gums
• Timers to help you keep track of how long you're brushing each quadrant of your mouth
• Digital reminders to replace your brush head
• Bluetooth® connectivity to help track brushing progress and improve how you brush
• Unique tracking technology that guides you in real time to ensure you cover every area

How to Use an Electric Toothbrush

To use your electric toothbrush, make sure it's fully charged. Next, you'll want to wet the brush head and apply your toothpaste.

Once you're ready to start brushing, angle the brush head next to your gum line at 45 degrees, and hold the brush against each tooth in turn, gently moving across all your teeth. There's no need to scrub or use a lot of pressure since the toothbrush is doing the cleaning for you.

Finally, brush your tongue, rinse your mouth, and remove the brush head to rinse it.

How Long to Brush with an Electric Toothbrush

Most people underestimate the amount of time they should brush. With a manual toothbrush, it's easy to lose track of time. Dental professionals recommend brushing for at least two minutes, twice a day. Each quadrant of your mouth gets 30 seconds of brush time.

Oral-B electric toothbrushes include two-minute timers that take you through this routine, ensuring you get a complete clean every time you brush.

Smile Bright with Oral-B

Now that you understand the differences between an electric toothbrush vs. a manual toothbrush and all the benefits of going electric, it's time to level up your brushing game.

At Oral-B, our electric toothbrushes are dentist-inspired and remove up to 100% more plaque than regular manual toothbrushes. With their replaceable round brush heads, which hug your teeth to clean every surface area more effectively, Oral-B is the number one dentist-recommended toothbrush brand worldwide.

As we continue to innovate and introduce new technologies at Oral-B, we always keep one goal in mind: Make it easy for you to get your best clean every time you brush.

Our Top Electric Toothbrush Recommendation

While any Oral-B electric toothbrush offers a superior clean, the Oral-B iO Series 9 represents our most advanced technology. It combines the dentist-inspired round brush head with powerful, yet gentle, micro-vibrations for a professional clean feeling every day.

• Advanced Features: The iO9 includes many of the high-tech features mentioned earlier, including 7 Smart Brushing Modes for personalized cleaning, a Smart Pressure Sensor that turns red when you brush too hard, and 3D Teeth Tracking to guide you to your best clean across all areas of your mouth.
• Replacement Heads: For the best results, pair your iO toothbrush with Oral-B iO Ultimate Clean Replacement Brush Heads, designed to work in harmony with the iO handle to tackle plaque in hard-to-reach areas.