Oral-Brilliance (Oral B Cross Action)

Member Name: franl

Product:	Oral B Cross Action
Date:	07/08/03 (1602 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Really clean teeth, Makes brushing easier

Disadvantages: Very expensive

I had a nasty shock recently. I'm a bit useless when it comes to packing for trips away, and always forget one essential item. Usually it's my contact lens solution, but last weekend I arrived in Manchester only to realise I'd forgotten my toothbrush. My initial relief at having forgotten something so cheap was eroded quickly when I arrived at the relevant section in Boots. Having converted to electric toothbrushes three years ago, it's some time since I've had to buy a manual one. And so here was the shock - boy, are they expensive!

I eventually selected the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush. It was the most expensive of the bunch, but it looked impressive and I've always been happy with my Oral-B electric toothbrushes. They're available in 8 colours, and three head sizes, with Soft or Medium bristles, although I've found that most supermarkets and chemists will not stock the full range. As an added bonus, when I got to the checkout, the brush was on offer, and cost only £2.49 as opposed to the advertised price of £3.99. I left the shop a somewhat happy camper, and went to the bar to meet my friend...

After all that wine, I definitely needed to brush my teeth, and therein lies the first challenge - getting into the packaging! Like most toothbrushes these days, whether of the electric or manual variety, the brush is packed in that insidious moulded clear plastic which you either attack sensibly with a pair of scissors, or wrestle with until your hands are bleeding, and then find a pair of scissors. Once I got in there, though, I was pretty happy with the result.

The CrossAction toothbrush uses 'CrissCross' bristles - basically this means that there are bristles of two different lengths, pointing in opposing directions. It uses the unique Oral-B blue indicator for the outer bristles too - these fade to white as your toothbrush is used, and once the blue colour fades, you buy a new brush. Wh
at some people don't realise is that the colour only fades halfway, so it's easy to overshoot by a couple of weeks the first time without realising!! The variety in the bristles left my teeth feeling squeaky clean, and I did feel as though they got into every little corner of my mouth. The handle of the toothbrush has a light, but solid-feeling, moulded rubbery grip, so it doesn't slide and gives you great control. I found that it took less time to clean my teeth with this brush, but this could be a bad thing, as it might encourage people to rush and not clean properly as a result. For the standard two minute brushing, however, this is the best manual toothbrush I've ever used, and it also holds its own against an electric toothbrush.

Unsurprisingly, Oral-B claim that this toothbrush is clinically proven to remove more plaque than leading toothbrushes. If you like a challenge, you can actually read the results of the clinical study on the website (address below)!

This toothbrush is available from all the usual places - supermarkets, chemists, and some dental practices - ranging in price from £2.49 - £3.99, so it's worth shopping around. There is also currently a buy one get one free offer in Tesco.

My only reservation about this toothbrush is the price, but as that's not far above standard anyway, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, and would definitely buy it again myself.

http://www.oralb.com/products/product.asp?tid= products&sub=manual&cid=manual&p id=crossaction

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