At the beginning of this year my husband and I decided to join a new dental practice. Fed up with our NHS dentist, who would spend around 2 minutes looking at our teeth before declaring that they were 'OK' we decided instead to join a private dental practice. At our first appointment with our new dentist we were given a thorough check up accompanied with a visit to the hygienist, not the most pleasant of experiences but nonetheless very important given that my teeth hadn't been de-scaled for a couple of years. As part of the discussion afterwards, both myself and my husband were advised to buy electric toothbrushes the use of which, we were told, would considerably improve the cleanliness of our teeth and gums. To cut a long story short, a few days later we were both the proud owners of new electric toothbrushes the make of which was this Oral B Vitality Precision toothbrush.

~The Product and Packaging~

This toothbrush comes wrapped in a thick casing of plastic which needs a serious appointment with a pair of scissors to cut through. Once out of its shell, the toothbrush has a blue body which tapers from a thinner end at the bottom to a slightly thicker top, and this is reflected in the weight of the toothbrush which feels decidedly bottom heavy. The body features a white button on the front, which houses a button to turn the toothbrush on and off and this button has a slightly rubbery feel making it easy to feel against the otherwise hard casing of the toothbrush. On the top of the toothbrush is the head, and this is white in colour and can easily be pulled off and clicked back on when the head needs changing. The head of the toothbrush features a series of blue, turquoise and white bristles and, reading through the leaflet, it is clear that the bristles gradually being to lose their colour when the head needs replacing. Usually after three months of twice daily use.

~Technical Details~

This toothbrush is rechargeable, and this means that housed inside the plastic casing is a white charger with a two pin plug. Although most households will have a shaving point, our unfortunately doesn't and so upon buying our toothbrushes we did have to invest in an adaptor which came it at under a £1. When fully charged, which takes around 16 hours when you first unpack this toothbrush, the charge should last for up to five days, assuming that you clean your teeth twice daily for two minutes.

The toothbrush head provides up to 7600 rotations per minute. Although this seems like a minor thing, it actually equates to a much more through clean than using a standard toothbrush and means that this toothbrush can remove up to twice as much plaque as a manual toothbrush. Plus, in my experience, this means that my back teeth are cleaned just as effectively as my front which gives my mouth a lovely fresh feeling after brushing.

~Use~

When first opened, it is recommended that the toothbrush is charged for 16 hours before first use and I presume that this is to get the battery life off to a good start. Once my toothbrush was fully charged I was eager to try it our and see how it would fare against my now disused model. After putting a pea sized blob of toothpaste onto the bristles and pressing the button on, the toothbrush creates a light humming noise as the head rotates. When placed against my teeth the rotation is vigorous but not unpleasant against my teeth, however this vigour does reduce during the week as the battery life of the toothbrush lessens. This toothbrush does feature a built in timer, and this means that after the two minute period has elapsed the heads does do a couple of short buzzes to let you know that the time is up. This is a handy feature in my opinion, particularly as I was given strict instructions by my dentist to brush for two minutes twice a day.

~Results~

After using my new toothbrush for a few months now, I have to say that the results speak for themselves and that my teeth now feel cleaner than they have ever been. What started out seeming like an eternity of brushing, even though it was only two minutes, has left my teeth looking whiter and my gums looking healthier. It has been a revelation to me, and one which I can now say I will never go back to a manual toothbrush.

~Maintenance~

This toothbrush requires little maintenance, however it is worth giving it a good rinse down in between cleans. The head of the toothbrush does need replacing every three months, and we have just replaced ours, and this is very easy to do by simply pulling the old head off and slotting the new head on. New heads can be found in a number of stores such as Boots, Wilkinson and supermarkets, although it is worth shopping around for the best deal in my opinion.

~Price and Availability~

We purchased our toothbrushes through our local Wilkinson store and paid around £25 each at the time. However, a quick look online reveals that they are currently stocked at £18.88 making them a must buy in my opinion.

~Summary~

All in all this is an excellent first time electric toothbrush in my opinion, and one which continues to leave my teeth feeling cleaner. My only advice, watch where the toothbrush drips as I have found the rotating head creates a lovely little patchwork of blue blobs around our bathroom floor, the result of the brush head being a little too enthusiastic.

I hope this review has been of some help and thanks for reading! x