If you’re looking for the best electric toothbrushes, then chances are you just got back from a trip to the dentist, and they were not happy with what they said. They more than likely recommended that you buy an electric toothbrush, because, well, they’re just super efficient at not only cleaning your teeth, but ensuring your overall dental hygiene is in check.
“The mouth is the gateway to your body, making it important to keep the oral microbiome balanced and healthy,” Dr. Mariam Zade, DDS, a board-certified orthodontist at JBL New York City, says. “The primary function of brushing is to remove plaque, a sticky film of bacteria that accumulates on teeth throughout the day. When plaque is not adequately removed, it can lead to tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral health issues.”
In This Guide
While your good ol’ manual brush works just fine to keep your teeth plaque-free (as long as you’re using it properly), today’s electric toothbrushes are a whole lot better in pretty much every way. Not only do dentists sing their praises for their deep cleaning, but many of them are also equipped with features that will help make you better at brushing (think: timed beeping, Bluetooth connectivity with your phone, various cleaning modes—the list goes on). Plus, they look cool and are fun to use, so if nothing else have a leg-up on your manual on those fronts—the more excited you are to use your toothbrush, the more you’ll actually use it.
Best Oscillating Electric Toothbrush: Oral-B Genius X Limited Rechargeable Electric Powered Toothbrush
Oral-B
Genius X Limited Rechargeable Electric Powered Toothbrush
There are toothbrushes that get your teeth clean, and then there are toothbrushes that you could basically trust to clean your house and watch your kids. More powerful than the brand’s famous Pro-1000, the Oral B Genius falls into the latter category, using AI technology to help you get the best brush of your life. It connects to an app on your phone that tracks the location of the brush as you move it around your mouth, and coaches you so that you don’t miss a spot and you’re getting a deep clean all around. The round brush head easily maneuvers between teeth so that you have primo oral hygiene, and its six modes—Daily Clean, Pro Clean, Sensitive, 3D White, Gum Care, and Tongue Clean—ensure that you can customize it to what you need. When it’s time to replace the tip, the brush pairs with multiple different types of Oral-B replacement brush heads that target different problems so that you, again, get what you need out of the brush. Though it’s super-smart, it’s also super easy to use, which isn’t the case with some of the other buttonless options out there. I will say that it’s got some pretty major power behind it and many of the modes were a bit too harsh for my delicate mouth, but the sensitive option worked just fine.
Best Sonic Electric Toothbrush: Mode Electric Toothbrush
This high-end, battery-powered toothbrush is intense, in the best possible way. Its sonic vibrations (similar to a Sonicare toothbrush) leave my teeth feeling like they’ve been deep cleaned, but the bristles are gentle enough that they don’t irritate my extremely sensitive gum line. In fact, I’ve found that I can brush around my gumline with less pressure and irritation, which has helped my keep better oral hygiene over time. As someone with a small New York City bathroom, I really appreciate that the charger doesn’t come at the expense of tons of counter space; instead, it just hangs out on the wall and is right there when I need to grab it. Arguably the coolest thing, though, is that the charging dock also functions as a night light—when it senses the room around it getting darker, it flicks on, which is great for midnight bathroom breaks.
One more thing worth noting: The battery life on this baby is long. A full charge will last you up to 30 days, which means you can travel for weeks on end without having to schlep around an extra piece.
Best Oscillating/Sonic Combo Electric Toothbrush: Lucent Prism
Prism Sonic Electronic Toothbrush
This brush combines fast, sonic vibrations with horizontal oscillations to loosen plaque and physically scrub it away for optimal oral care (just add a flosser and you’re golden). The bristles are soft enough for my sensitive gums, but what I really like is that it has a built-in pressure sensor that clues me in with a blinking light when I’m brushing too hard. It has three brushing modes with different vibrational patterns and intensities, which you can change by holding down the power button, and a two-minute timer that vibrates every 30 seconds to signal you to move from one quadrant of your mouth to the next to hit each section for the time recommended by the American Dental Association. The Lucent Prism comes in a chic green ombré shade and sits atop a translucent charging dock, but though the combo looks great on a vanity, it isn’t exactly the most functional. My brush kept falling onto the bathroom floor, which is never good news.
Best Smart Electric Toothbrush: Philips Sonicare 9900
Philips
Sonicare DiamondClean 9900 Prestige Electric Toothbrush
While the Philips Sonicare Diamondclean and the Philips Sonicare 4100 are widely popular options from the line, its this brush that’s referred to as the “Rolls Royce” of electric toothbrushes, so I had high hopes for what it had to offer (especially for $329 a pop). And boy, did it deliver. What makes the Phillips Sonicare 9900 so special is its SensIQ technology, which not only acts as a pressure sensor (something a number of other brushes on this list come with), but actually adjusts its intensity if it senses you’re brushing too hard. It’s basically impossible not to get a perfect clean with this brush, because it does all of the guesswork for you. It’s kind of annoying that you have to adjust the modes via an app instead of directly on the brush itself, but because of the automatic adjustment feature, I found that I didn’t have to switch things up manually all that often. I also really love the travel case that it comes in, which is made of leather, endlessly chic, and great for travel. The rechargeable battery juices up in the case, which also helps keep the brush head clean when you’re not using it (I could tell you some traumatizing facts about toothbrushes and “toilet plume” bacteria). All in all, this was my favorite toothbrush I tried, which wasn’t exactly surprising given the price point. Is it amazing? Yes, absolutely. Is it so much more amazing than the other toothbrushes on the list that it’s worth paying triple for? Depends how much you care about your teeth.
Best Electric Toothbrush for Whitening: Snow LED Whitening Electric Toothbrush
Snow
LED Whitening Electric Toothbrush
Brushing your teeth is, obviously, the most important thing you can do to keep them white—but this particular brush-ups the ante. It’s equipped with a blue LED light, which purportedly activates whitening chemicals and improves their penetration. This means that if you pair the Snow LED toothbrush with a whitening toothpaste, you might get even better results than you would with the toothpaste and a regular old rechargeable electric toothbrush on their own. It uses sonic vibrations, and has four modes— clean, white, polish, and sensitive—with different pulse patterns and intensities (the LED light only kicks on in white mode). It’s easy to use, and as an added bonus, the rechargeable base can be paired with the brand’s Tongue Scraper and Face Brush attachments (in addition to the regular toothbrush head) for a nice little piece of three-in-one tech.
Best Electric Toothbrush with Rubber Bristles: Quip Smart
Quip
Smart Rechargable Toothbrush
Rubber bristles are beloved for their ability to offer a deep, gentle clean on even the most sensitive teeth and gums, and dentists love the QUIP—which surrounds its nylon bristles with rubber ones—for this reason and more. “In my opinion, the brand makes one of the best electric toothbrushes,” says Lawrence Fung, DDS, a cosmetic dentist at Silicon Beach Dental in California. “It has the right ergonomics; the size of the brush head is large enough to effectively remove plaque while not being too large to get in some of the hard to reach corners.”
Joshua Perlman DMD, a general and cosmetic dentist and the founder of NYC Smile Spa calls this brush the “iPhone of toothbrushes” thanks to its super-smart connected features. It links up with an app that tracks your brushing habits and rewards you for good behavior (you can exchange your points for new brush heads and gift cards), which almost makes brushing your teeth kind of… fun? Plus, it comes in a slew of colors, and has a magnetic charging cable that takes up minimal space in the bathroom.
What to Look for in an Electric Toothbrush
To determine what type of technology you need, Perlman recommends asking yourself a few questions: Will this specific product help my oral health condition? Is there clinical research that backs up these claims? And, does my trusted oral health care professional recommend this product for me?
