If you go shopping for a toothbrush, you'll probably notice that there are several kinds on offer. You'll obviously be able to select between manual and electric, but you may have also noticed that several toothbrushes now claim to be 'sonic'.
Not just marketing jargon
It's easy to write off the idea of a sonic toothbrush as merely marketing jargon meant to make a certain product sound more advanced. However, this isn't the case at all. While sonic toothbrushes look just like regular electric toothbrushes and work in much the same way, they are able to move their bristles at much greater speeds. In fact, a sonic toothbrush will commonly offer thousands more strokes per minute than even an electric toothbrush.
More strokes equals superior cleaning
That increase in strokes per minute is going to mean that your teeth are cleaned more thoroughly than they would be with a regular electric model. After all, the effectiveness of electric models over manual toothbrushes usually comes down to the vastly superior number of strokes that they can provide. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the efficiency of sonic toothbrushes.
Cleaning your tooth without contact
The superior cleaning ability of a sonic toothbrush is only somewhat down to its increased stroke rate against each tooth; they have a secondary cleaning action that is even more important. Since a sonic toothbrush vibrates with such intensity, it actually agitates the surrounding mouth fluids, typically a mixture of toothpaste, saliva and water, enough to disrupt plaque that rests below the gum line and between teeth. Essentially, sonic toothbrushes are powerful enough to make oral fluids clean areas that the bristles of the brush aren't able to touch themselves.
The science of sonic superiority
If you're a little sceptical about the idea of non-contact tooth cleaning, you don't have to be. Several scientific studies have backed-up the claim that sonic toothbrushes can operate this way. One study demonstrated that dental plaque was removed at even a 4mm distance from the bristles themselves. In fact, 56–78 per cent plaque removal was achieved at a distance of 3mm, while regular electric brushes showed no such results. That kind of distance might not sound impressive, but it does allow your toothbrush to clean a large percentage of the area between teeth and under the gum line. In any case, you won't receive that kind of benefit at all when you use a regular electric toothbrush.
Get in touch with a dentist to learn more about sonic toothbrushes and other steps you can take to achieve better oral health.
Share14 December 2016
When I had my first child, I was a nervous wreck. Every book I read gave different advice, and I just wanted to be right! By the time I had my third child, some of the stress had abated. I now realised, there were tons of different perspectives on everything related to raising children including dentistry. To help parents, I have created this blog dedicated to unraveling dental myths about children. I am including posts that weigh both sides of issues such as thumb sucking, dental caries, breastfeeding, flossing and any other topic I can think of. I hope you find the information you need to unravel dental myths, but most importantly, I hope you find some peace of mind. With kids and dentistry, there can be more than one right answer, and I want you to be able to relax and go with the answer that's right for you.
