Butter brush! (Braun Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover)

Member Name: macutmore

Product:	Braun Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover
Date:	22/01/02 (3731 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best way to brush your teeth, Comparatively inexpensive

Disadvantages: Clumsy design, Needs to remain on dock, Replacement brushes only sold in pairs

My dentist had recently made a recommendation to me that I should invest in an electric toothbrush, stating that they were, in fact, much more efficient at removing plaque than brushing manually. This I trusted, but I had had an electric toothbrush before.

Many moons ago I was lucky enough to have one of the first generation electric toothbrushes (by coincidence this was also a Braun). It was a top of the range model at the time, (they were silly money then), not dissimilar in concept to this very latest Oral-B model. It was a very clumsy, bulky and fairly heavy affair (by today's standards). Overpowered too, with a straight brush head it really ate into the enamel of my teeth. Eventually the built in rechargeable battery gave up the ghost. The unit deteriorated by needing less time between recharges until it packed up completely.

It was impossible to replace the sealed internal battery without destroying the unit and in any case even a brush replacement for the head of the unit cost an arm and a leg. The thing became no good to man or beast and I thankfully resorted to good old manual brushing again. Later was about the time when toothbrushes became 'plaque removers' with decent compact heads and had evolved into serious practical oral hygiene tools.

I was reluctant to go back to electric after this previous experience, especially since I had spent top dollar on private professional dental treatment to restore the condition of my teeth and gums, which had been effected by the detrimental effects of 'brushing too hard'!!! Probably throughout the year's ownership of the electric toothbrush!

That was several years ago now, and designs change, products improve, fashion goes and comes around. One also eventually gets taken in and succumbs to the latest fads?

Braun claim that their oral-B plak Control ultra power toothbrush has been developed together with leading dental professionals to effectively rem
ove plaque from all areas of your teeth. They also claim that more dentists in the world than any other recommend their electric brand. To that end they also claim that they are the number one selling electric plaque remover brand in the world!

Well every manufacturer has something similar to say. I must admit when I see (or hear) drivel like this from any company or salesman. I am now conditioned into recognising it as a pun. Accepting my former comments though, I decided to invest in an electric toothbrush. It seemed that there were a couple of leading brands to choose from on the shelf of my local supermarket. Not only that, the designs of the brushes seemed incredibly similar and even the handles were almost identical!

I very nearly went for an AA battery powered model of the other leading brand- it seemed more compact and fashionable. I had visions of buying and or recharging AA batteries for the rest of my life! No way! The rechargeable Braun model (although more expensive) seemed the only realistic option here.

Made in Germany, the Braun unit seemed attractively packaged with one brush (hang on a minute, I thought they sold them in pairs!), a mains charging docking station and a multi-lingual instruction/ warranty sheet. I was dumbfounded however when I opened this package. It took me ages to figure out how to, for one! I very nearly cut my hands open on its sharp edges trying. The only way to open the rectangular shrink-wrapped moulded plastic polyurethane packet was to cut and destroy it with very sharp scissors or a scalpel blade!

As soon as the unit clumsily came out of it's packaging I realised with horror that it had a two pin shaver plug moulded onto it's power lead. This is very cleverly disguised, being coiled up inside, and masked by the products card labelling. Now if you haven't got a two-pin shaver socket in your bathroom (I think the hotel down the road probably has), you'll either have to get
one, or an adaptor to run this product. Fortunately I have (found) such an adapter and run the docking station in my bedroom, since I have no power points in the bathroom, (and neither should you have).

You can't cut off the plug either, unless you kiss goodbye to the warranty, of course! Talking of warranties, an interesting aspect to this product is that Braun actually give a '12 month performance guarantee', this effectively means that if you are not convinced that the toothbrush 'significantly reduces plaque' you can send it back for a full refund at any time (in it's original packaging), with your till receipt, allowing 6-8 weeks for handling. (But what happened to the ORIGINAL PACKAGING!!!!!!!!!!).

On commission the unit surprisingly already had some charge in its battery, but a 16-hour charge was recommended prior to use. My first brushing came as a pleasant surprise. Although bringing back memories of my first electric toothbrush, this one was refined, lighter, more quiet and, the main difference being the compact round brush head with two interdental tips which clean hard to reach areas deep between teeth. Afterwards my mouth felt really refreshed as if I had literally just a scale & polish at the dentists!

Designed for daily use for the whole family. Braun state that during the first days of using the toothbrush your gums may bleed slightly, and that, in general, bleeding should stop after a few days. It is, of course, very important to brush your gums and although Braun mentions bleeding, I find the unit gives a good beneficial, gentle gum massaging action. It is important that one doesn?t press too hard or scrub. One should simply let the brush do all the work. Ultra-speed motion of the brush itself is supposed to transform toothpaste into micro-foam to penetrate difficult to reach areas where bacteria can hide.

The motion of the circular, cylindrical head (brush) seems to go backwards and forw
ards (and up and down), in a semi-circular stroke when enacting upon its cause. This is where the thing undoubtedly differs from its previous generation of design. I would say that the automated strokes of the brush pretty much line up with the natural gum edges of your teeth, making it difficult to brush incorrectly, which is good.

The toothbrush can be used with any leading brand of toothpaste, but Braun does not recommend toothpastes with whitening agents.
To avoid splashing, the brush head needs to be guided to your teeth before the appliance is switched on. I also found that only small quantities of paste are necessary since any excess seems to be plastered off the brush head into another area of your mouth.

A brushing time of at least two minutes is recommended to thoroughly remove plaque. A two-minute timer (not incorporated in this model) memorises the elapsed brushing time and signals by a short stutter. To be honest I would say that for the considerable extra expense of the model with this feature it would seem hardly worth it or justified.

Dentists recommend that you replace any toothbrush every three months. Therefore the brush head is provided with indicator bristles. (I think they are nylon). Several outside edge green coloured indicator bristles (the rest are white), are supposed to monitor brushing performance and brush head replacement. With proper brushing twice a day for two minutes, the colour will disappear half way down the bristles in a three-month period, provided you use the toothpaste. If the bristles splay before the colour recedes this means you are exerting too much pressure on teeth and gums.

Replacement brushes appear to be sold in pairs and although they seem readily available buying two at once is not something you'd probably do with a normal toothbrush. It just adds to expense. It really is amazing Braun have the Gaul to only include one in with the product!

The toothbrush is elec
trically safe (it works on a 2.4 Volt rechargeable battery), and can be used in the bathroom without hesitation. The base unit is plugged into an electrical outlet (note the two-pin mains plug!) and the handle on the charging unit. The led charge indicator on the toothbrush handle then lights up (and stays lit). A full charge takes about 16 hours and this will provide an operation time of about thirty minutes. For everyday use, the handle can be stored on the plugged-in charging unit to maintain the toothbrush at full power. Overcharging is impossible.

Because the unit has a built in Ni-Cad battery, a recommendation is made that in order to maintain the maximum capacity of the rechargeable battery, the charging unit should be unplugged and the handle discharged by regular use at least every six months. Battery removal is impossible without opening the handle of the appliance, which destroys it and invalidates the one-year guarantee.

My thoughts on the Braun are mixed really. I think that its design is not in any way perfect. It is still a 'bottom heavy' item that is difficult to stand upright on a bathroom cabinet. One remains unsure whether to just lay the item down sideways (and see it roll), or perch it up (and see it tumble). It's best left in the charger, probably with the mains socket permanently left on, with it's bright led glowing boldly.

Despite the compact brush, I still get mixed vibrations from the clumsy bold handle of the unit. I wonder if the next generation of design will be a lot smaller, maybe with a lithium-ion battery instead, since I do get a perception of when the power runs down and the brush seemingly runs slower or more sluggishly. It's best to keep the battery saturated, constantly 'topped up', ready for use. So when I go on holiday, I'll probably take the charger base unit as well. Even though a week or so is possible out of normal charge, my guess is that it wouldn't run as e
fficiently as it runs down anyway.

The base unit is a clumsy little block with rectangular edges. This seems too light for a docking station (lighter than the whole handle and brush itself). I remember on my previous electric toothbrush that occasionally when docked, the led wouldn't light due to a bad, dirty or worn, (or wet) contact to the battery base. I can't see much difference in this latest design. This meant that if you docked the unit for charge without verifying that the led was lit, you could get no charge at all, then next time you picked the unit up it could be as dead as a dodo until you charged it properly.

Time will tell if Braun have got around these points. All in all though, I would certainly agree that everyone should have an electric toothbrush. They are undoubtedly better than ordinary brushes and now extremely affordable. A must have!

Summary: