INTRODUCTION

As a Bzzz-Agent I was lucky enough to be sent this electric toothbrush to test and spread the word on. It really is a state of the art toothbrush and puts my Oral B that I had been using for a few years to shame - my old one only has one button for a start! I was pleased to see it was by Colgate as I have been using their toothpastes for years (as does my dentist) so I trust them as a brand.

This really is the all singing-all dancing character of the toothbrush world. I am a bit sceptical of toothbrushes with 'on-board' computers but quite frankly that is a bit of a stretch - you won't be checking your Facebook on this toothbrush but it does have a clear LED screen. My large chunky shiny red box came with the toothbrush handle and one brush head, a travel case, charger and refill post attachment (or if other members use this toothbrush with different heads). The charger pins are two pins like shaving units so can be charged this way if you have that in the bathroom. I had an adaptor from my previous toothbrush which I use to charge it at a conventional wall socket in the hall.

To start you need to charge it for 16 hours and charge it for this amount at least once a week. I don't do this because:
(a) I never remember to put in on charge soon enough for it to be charging for 16 hours
(b) It doesn't seem to need it.

BRUSH HEAD

The brush I received was the 'Triple Clean' one. They also do a 'Sensitive' one. Refills are RRP £10.99 for two and I shall be on the look out for offers and promotions! It has a long head instead of a round one like my old brush, the three parts are: Spiral bristles at the top to remove surface stains, inner bristles of plaque removal and tapers outer bristles for the gum line. As far as I am aware they do what I expect of them and it is recommended you change the brush head every three months. To attach the brush to the handle you just line the grooves up and push it down but I think this could be fiddly if you have limited dexterity as the brush head is smooth and there is nothing to grip, especially with wet hands.

USAGE

My previous toothbrush was fairly straight; this one has an angled handle and lots of modes which I found daunting at first - how did I know which one to use? There is a video on the Colgate website which makes things clearer. The manufacturers recommend that you hold your head upright so the toothbrush can judge what part of the mouth you are cleaning and adjust itself accordingly. I am aware of the 45 degree light coming on out of the corner of my eye. Basically - if you have it on Auto setting, which I usually do - you just have to hold the thing in your mouth and change its position occasionally. As with all electric toothbrushes, it is a good idea to apply toothpaste, put the brush in your mouth and then turn on, rather than turn on before putting it in your mouth otherwise your toothpaste can go everywhere!.

The first thing then you will notice is that the thing is loud - really loud! It sounds a bit like a drill! Admittedly electric toothbrushes don't tend to be quiet, but this was very loud even by normal standards. The manufacturers also suggest using Auto mode for the first two weeks as it takes some getting used to. I would concur with this, as it took me about 10 days and I am a regular electric toothbrush user. My mouth felt really clean when I had finished and for the first ten days tingled immediately after, like I had just had a 'proper' clean with my dental hygienist. It is not uncommon for your gums to bleed slightly if you are not used to electric toothbrushes. Certainly I found this brush more vigorous than my older model.

The brush is easy to use; I just hold it against my teeth and let it get on with it, moving it around over the next tooth every so often. One thing that it doesn't get over is my urge to gag when cleaning at the very back of my mouth. Also, the toothpaste foams up more than normal and you will find your mouth filling with foam and will need to spit sooner.

I rinse the toothbrush under the tap when finished and rub off any toothpaste spatter with my fingers. The recommended way is to take the head off and rinse it, but I find it too fiddly to manhandle with wet hands, so only do this occasionally.

CLAIMS

Colgate claims that the brush has Smart Sensors to figure out the speed to use in relation to how it is held in the mouth. I can angle it out of the mouth and it changes then too, so it is not smart enough to work out if it is in my mouth or not. The LED display shows if it is as 45 degrees or not and I enjoy trying to test it and see how much I can move from 45 degrees before the light goes off. I probably should get out more. There is a timer alert every 30 seconds to remind you to move the thing to another part of your mouth as well as a two minute alert so you know you have cleaned for the recommended minimum amount of time. It also has Sonic Wave Cleaning which 'provides a superior clean for teeth and care for gums' and reduces plaque by up to five times more (compared to a manual flat-toothbrush). I am not going to pretend I understand what sonic wave cleaning is (apart from being loud) and how it works but my teeth feel clean so it must be doing something right.

OTHER MODES

As I mentioned I usually just use the Auto mode, but you can manually change to Deep Clean mode which uses the faster strokes the Auto mode uses for molars and getting behind and between teeth or Optimum mode white is the middle speed in Auto mode for better cleaning along the gum lines.

SUMMARY

I am really pleased with the brush - I feel it cleans my teeth effectively and think (hope!) my dentist will be pleased when he next sees me (although he'll probably still give me a telling off for not flossing regularly enough). It seems to do what it is supposed to - my mouth feels healthy and clean and I haven't had any problems with inflamed gums or any irritation. I actually feel a bit lazy as I feel I should be doing more myself but it seems that all I need to do is position the brush correctly and it will do the rest. I was initially daunted that the brush was more complicated then it is, and indeed I don't have any use for any of the other modes. The really scary thing is the price: £164.99. No I didn't add an extra digit in by mistake. I have seen it on the Boots website for £84.99 but still think this is expensive. Yes, it is a great toothbrush and does what it is supposed to do, but I think this is an extortionate price. This is the top spec model but you can get less fancy models - the C600 and C200 for less. Admittedly they don't have the smart sensors on, but still seem to offer the 'Sonic' cleaning action, plaque reduction and the usual cleaning features you would expect from an electric toothbrush for less money.

If you are looking at making the move from a manual toothbrush or changing your existing toothbrush these models are definitely worthy of your consideration.