electric toothbrushes?

lizzy100

hey, i find it painful to brush my teeth with my arthritis. was wondering if anyone knows of a good electric toothbrush thats not tooo expesnive? or how people manage?

dreamdaisy

I've used one for years. They're not expensive when they're on offer but the replacement brushes can be, so again look out for offers. You don't necessarily need an all-singing-all-dancing one, a basic version is fine. DD

chookgate

Your dentist can recommend one, but at the risk of breaking forum rules, the two main brands Phillips sonicare and Braun oral b are both very good and models range in price from around £20 to ridiculous sums! I have an oral b one, and teeth brushing is pain free (I have wrist and elbow issues). Nearly everywhere seems to offer them half price (particularly boots and superdrug). As DD says, check the cost of replacement brushes before you choose a brand.

mike26

hi lizzy 100
@ droped toothbrush in sink start again.
but just cant get the hang of um!
dd making me think again though, a toothbrush that sings to you in mornings wow what tunes does it play this sounds good..
mike26..

dreamdaisy

Nice one Mike! DD

lizzieuk1

We use the oral b sonic tis great , heads r much cheaper on ebay , look out for offers in boots and the supermarkets they r often on.

lizzy100

thanks, yea dentist said they're all good really, but she likes oral B. Yea I hadnt thought about superdrug they might have offers. sainsburys always seem expensive.

LignumVitae

Asda do their own brand electric toothbrushes. Their replacement heads are a bit cheaper than oral b ones, fit oral b brushes and last quite a bit longer than oral b ones.

scattered

I love my electric toothbrush. My dentist suggested I change when I found it too difficult to hold a normal one and wasn't able to move my wrists enough to get a really good clean. You can buy battery powered ones very cheaply if you just want to test one out before spending loads. Or you could try getting some foam pipe lagging from a DIY store and threading it onto your toothbrush handle, if it's grip your having difficulties with. Bandages wrapped round it and covered in sellotape work too.

chookgate

Check Amazon as well, the prices on there are close to the 1/2 price offers that Boots had before Christmas.

stickywicket

There is no way I could brush my teeth effectively without my electric toothbrush. It's the 'B' brand. I've also just discovered that Am*z*n do 'unofficial' replacement heads at a much lower cost than the official ones and they work just as well. I tried a battery toothbrush once when I forgot my own while away for some time and I found it very inferior.

lizzy100

its the grip that hurts and cant brush hard enough. but i dont think even getting a mould handle (which dentist said hed do and then didnt!) would help because its still going to hurt whatever the shape is to hold and move.
hav to look around.

stickywicket

Why not find a friend who has an electric one and just try holding it. The handles are much thicker and easier to grip than those of ordinary toothbrushes and, with an electric one, you don’t need to apply pressure as it will do all the work for you.

dreamdaisy

You don't have to move it as such, just slowly from side to side: I think the ideal is to spend about 15 seconds on each quadrant of the mouth and do so twice (I don't, I do so once but clean my teeth three times a day). I used two hands to hold it when I had my carpal tunnel, I looked like I was playing a flute but so what? I could still do it and that's what counted. He had to ssqueeze the paste onto the brush head though - that bit I couldn't manage. DD

frogmorton

A lot of the supermarkets do their own brand of battery powered ones which might be an idea to start with they are quite cheap abdout £7 I think....

Will PM you a link which might/might not help

Toni xx