Use your brain, get a Braun. (Braun Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover)

Member Name: mikeb

Product:	Braun Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover
Date:	31/01/01 (430 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, rechargeable, leaves your mouth fresh.

Disadvantages: None so far.

I’m very surprised to find myself doing an opinion about an electric toothbrush because up until recently I had never had any thoughts of getting one.

A combination of my brother getting one and being enthusiastic about it and a couple of very favourable Dooyoo reviews (the power of Dooyoo) made me consider it. So while out in town at the weekend I decided to visit Boots to check out their range of brushes. Not looking to spend a fortune, I started at the lower end of the market which was a Braun Plaque Remover which had a £10 reduction on it bringing it down to about £25. It looked OK and the box said it was recommended by more UK dentists than all other electric toothbrushes combined, which sounded promising. Moving up the Braun range, Boots had two more which were also reduced but in the £30 to £35 price bracket which was more than I intended to pay.

Apart from the price, there didn’t seem to be much difference between the cheapest and dearest other than the odd feature like an alarm sounding to tell you when the two minute recommended brushing time was up or a slightly quicker spinning speed. I decided to give it a bit more thought and left without buying one.

Next stop was Asda’s and after getting the rest of the stuff I needed, I thought I may as well have a look and see if they had any brushes. When I found the right aisle I spotted a Braun box which turned out to be the same as the cheapest one at Boots and was an almost identical price. Lower down the shelf were some more brushes including some battery operated electric ones which I didn’t know existed. These ranged from a very basic model at £4.99 up to a fairly smart looking one at £9.99 and I must admit I considered getting one. Then I noticed another Braun brush, but without the fancy box and priced up at only £13.99. The Braun 6011 came sealed in a plastic see through package and contained just the brush and a recharging unit and I assume the budget pr
ice could be mostly attributed to the no frills approach. I decided get it because at this price it was a very good buy in comparison to the battery ones.

When I got home I thought I’d better open it straight away because there was bound to be some charging time needed before I could use it. From what I’ve written already about the packaging you would think opening it would be a piece of cake but this was not the case and in the end the only way I could get into it was to attack it with a pair of sharp scissors. I think Braun could probably re-think the way this brush is packed because it should definately not be this hard to open. After finally getting in to brush I checked the instructions to see what I had to do next. The instructions came in the form of an English/Spanish/Portuguese guide and was very good, covering charging, using and cleaning, all of which were accompanied by very clear numbered diagrams so you could hardly go wrong. The brush needed a 16 hours charge which would be enough for 35 minutes of use, or around 9 days brushing at the rate of 2 minutes/twice a day. It also said it was impossible to overcharge the unit so the brush could be left plugged in on its charging stand to maintain full power. I left it charging overnight.

Next day, when charging was complete, I used it for the first time after going over the intruction sheet once more. The main guidelines were:

Don’t use toothpastes with whitening agents.

Do one tooth at a time, including the surrounding gums.

Don’t press too hard or scrub.

Use for at least 2 minutes.

It also said that sometimes your gums may bleed slightly after using this brush, but this should stop happening after a few days. A good feature is that the bristles on the brush head are coloured blue with the colour gradually receeding because of use. With proper use, after about three months the blue should have gone half way down the brist
les and this means it is time to replace the brushhead. If the bristles become splayed out before the three months are up, it says you are applying too much pressure during brushing.

I followed these guidelines and used my new brush for the first time and was very impressed with it. The action of the brush feels a bit like having your teeth polished at the dentist and my mouth felt very fresh after use. It took a little bit of getting used to because of the size of the brush handle but I did not experience any bleeding gums, which pleased me. It obviously remains to be seen whether the brush will keep my teeth in a better state than a conventional brush.

Overall I’m glad I bought this brush and see why others have recomended them. Incidently, I popped into Tesco’s today and noticed that their Braun electric brushes start at around £20 and I’m pretty sure that was for the same model as mine, so if you do intend buying one I’d get one quick from Asda’s.

Summary: