Last year when my trusted Philips Sonicare Electric Toothbrush finally gave up the ghost, I invested in one of the Oral-B Sonic Toothbrushes - in my opinion, a much better purchase. Eventually, as the brushes supplied wore out, I had to purchase some new heads, and looking on Amazon, I managed to get a 4 pack for just under £12 at the time - a dam sight cheaper than the £20 plus I was paying for a 2-pack for my old Philips Sonicare, especially when you consider that if you change the head every 3 months as recommended, the Oral-B brushes are a year's supply for just under £12, compared to the £40 plus I would be paying for the Philips brushes. So a great saving all round.

The brushes come sealed in a stiff plastic package, which seems to require an attack from a ninja battle sword and a whole army to get into. But once inside, what is so wonderful about these Oral B Sonic brushes? Well they have something called 'CrissCross' bristles, which means they set the bristles at multiple angles in opposing directions. Apparently, this is meant to enable the brush to reach better between you teeth to brush away the plaque and clean away any debris. Does it work? Difficult to say really. I've been using these Oral B brushes for about a year now, and at a recent dental check-up, my dentist said that everything was great, just as he did previously when I was using the Philips Sonicare brushes. But in both cases I also use those little TePe Interdental brushes to floss and brush between my teeth, so I suppose that helps as well. But either way, these Oral B brushes do seem to perform well and give a thorough cleaning experiance.

What else is there in the design? In use, to me the bristles feel about a medium stiffness. They are not so hard so as to rip in to your gums, but not so soft that they don't feel like they are doing any cleaning. The front bristles are slightly longer, which means that they can push better and further into the more difficult to clean areas. In that respect, I find that they do work well, particularly at the back of my mouth which can often be a difficult place to clean. Another good feature is that they have a built in wear indicator, which is a sort of blue colouring on the bristles which slowly turns to white through use, which indicates the bristles are now worn and it is time to replace the head. Now for me with my routine of cleaning 2, sometimes 3 times a day, this wear indicator seems to be fairly accurate for the 3 month point, although it is a gradual process and can be a little subjective as to if it is totally worn, or just on its way.

To replace the brush itself is just a case of pulling the old one off of the main handle, and slotting the new one on - very quick and easy to do.

Negative points? To be honest, I can't really fault them. The quality of the Oral-B toothbrush itself is excellent, and that quality is mirrored right through into the brush head. Perhaps they could be cheaper, but that is a very minor point, although it is unfortunate that the likes of big supermarkets etc haven't (or aren't able to because of patent) done their own cheaper versions of the brush head to slot on to the handle.

In summary, this is a very good brush head that provides a very thorough in depth cleaning experience for your teeth. Hence, a 5* recommendation.