We’ve heard the advice our entire lives: brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day. Some companies even took it upon themselves to help children with this important dental hygiene task as well, by creating electric toothbrushes that play music for the recommended two minute period. And while everyone should be brushing their teeth for at least twice a day for two minutes a day, every single day, did you know that the kind of toothbrush you use can have a huge effect on your oral hygiene? In this blog, we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of both manual and electric toothbrushes.

Electric Toothbrush:

• Pro: Electric toothbrushes deliver more movements per minute than manual toothbrushes. In fact, some models can even deliver an entire 48,000 movements per minute! Which is a huge benefit when stacked against the 300-600 movements by using a manual toothbrush.
• Pro: Because you get more movement per minute with electric toothbrushes, they do a better job altogether at removing plaque and gingivitis. Some studies have proven that they do a 100% better job than manual brushes.
• Pro: Some models have a built in timer, so you’ll always be brushing your teeth for the recommended amount of time, and you’ll never have to use your watch or phone to time your brushing again!
• Con: Electric toothbrushes can break easily, meaning that a drop or two could be fatal for the body of the brush.
• Con: They use energy, because they have to be charged. If you don’t have a model that charges, you’ll have to buy yourself extra batteries, which can sometimes be costly depending on the type of battery your model requires.

Manual Toothbrushes:

• Pro: You can keep your mouth clean if you use proper brushing techniques.
• Pro: Manual brushes come in a wider variety of shapes and sizes, meaning that you can choose the kind of bristles, colors, and heads to choose from.
• Pro: They are easy to travel with and even easier to replace if lost.
• Con: There are no timers with manual brushes. So you never know how long your brushing unless you take the extra effort to time yourself.