Buying an electric toothbrush is a little like buying a car. Well, it’s a lot less pressure given that you’re spending $250 max, don’t have a greasy salesman breathing down your neck, and it isn’t a machine that could kill you — but still, the gist is the same. You have to think hard about all the kinds of features you really want and need. Do you want a built-in timer? Do you care about a long battery life? How many different brush heads do you prefer? Would you care if it’s loud? Are you the kind of person who’s actually going to remember to charge it?
All of these questions can be a lot — especially for someone who’s been using a medium-soft plastic brush for as long as they can remember. But as several studies have shown, the use of an electric toothbrush over a manual brush has serious benefits, including dramatically reducing plaque and gingivitis after just three months. "The first thing people need to understand is that with electric toothbrushes in general, the fact that you’re buying one is a step up," Los Angeles-based cosmetic dentist Jon Marashi, DDS, says. "It’s better to use for pretty much every area of your mouth."
With that in mind, we rounded up the best electric toothbrushes to fit your needs and make your morning routine a bit more exciting, ahead.
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Thin, lightweight, and highly intuitive for the electric newbies out there, Quip is one of the cheapest brush options around and definitely the most stylish. Available in colors like gold, red, and a surprisingly chic all-black with black bristles, the brush is powered by one single AAA battery that lasts three months. That means there’s no need to charge it — you just replace the electric brush-head when it dies.
It also has an embedded two-minute timer so you know exactly how long to brush, and comes with a tiny stand that can actually stick to your mirror so you have more room around your bathroom sink for other important personal care items — like the floss your dentist is begging you to use.
Quip Electric Starter Set, $25, available at Quip
We honestly don’t remember if we ever saw Zenon brush her teeth in the Disney original movie, but if she did, this is the kind of toothbrush she’d use. The brush beams a brightening blue light as it moves across your teeth at the speed of 33,000 strokes a minute. The starter kit also comes with a whitening gel, which works with the light to remove stains every time you scrub.
Go Smile Sonic Blue Smart Brush Whitening Kit, $89, available at Ulta Beauty
With Kim and Kanye among its many fans, you know this toothbrush is luxe. It comes with lots of brush heads and accessories that seem a little too complicated at first, but once you get past that, the brush is actually designed to make your life a lot easier.
With smart sensor technology, all you have to do is attach your desired brush head (there’s one for whitening, gum care, plaque control, or tongue care), and it automatically adjusts itself to the right spin settings. For the super tech-savvy, there’s also an app that’ll sync your teeth-cleaning patterns to your iPhone, so you can see which areas you’re not giving enough love to.
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart Electric Rechargeable Toothbrush, $250, available at Amazon
If you’re prone to falling asleep without giving your mouth a good clean, you might want to invest in one of these colorful brushes: You can sign up for text alerts that’ll send three reminders to your phone each day. The battery lasts two full weeks, because if you can’t remember to brush your teeth, you’re definitely not remembering to charge your toothbrush.
Goby Electric Toothbrush, $60, available at Goby
Foreo, the company now famed for its vibrating facial cleansing brush, has a similarly-designed toothbrush, too. With its combination of high-intensity pulsations and nonabrasive silicone bristles, it works to clean sensitive teeth and gums without any irritation. Better still, if you’re accustomed to the lawn mower engine in the average electric toothbrush, this low-buzzing brush will seem silent in comparison.
Foreo Issa Toothbrush, $119, available at Sephora
The Boka brush features activated charcoal bristles, which provide a much gentler brushing experience and actually helps prevent bacteria from growing on your toothbrush (which is a highly gross thing that does happen). Like the Quip, it has a two-minute timer with 30-second alerts and offers a subscription service option so you can get new brush heads every two to three months, as well as refills of its toothpaste and floss.
Boka Boka Brush, $75, available at Boka
At $250, consider this the Rolls Royce of toothbrushes. Fittingly, it comes stocked with all kinds of goodies, including a brush head that whitens and three unique brushing modes (including one called "massage"). Designed by cosmetic dentist Michael Apa, DDS, this brush delivers an intense 40,000 vibrations per minute, but don’t worry, it doesn’t make it feel like all your teeth are rattling inside your skull.
Apa Beauty Clean White Sonic Toothbrush, $250, available at Net-A-Porter
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