Best Electric Toothbrushes of 2024
We check plaque removal efficiency using a panel of volunteers. Top performers include models from Burst, Oral-B, and Phillips.
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When it comes to keeping your teeth clean and healthy, an electric toothbrush isn’t a necessity—but it can definitely help.
Features like 2-minute timers and pressure sensors can help you make sure you’re cleaning thoroughly and safely. But with prices for some models reaching hundreds of dollars, you want to make sure you’re buying a brush that will truly work for you.
Best Electric Toothbrushes
How CR Tests Toothbrushes
CR evaluated the performance of powered toothbrushes using a panel of people between the ages of 18 and 65, all users of an electric toothbrush, and in good dental health.
Cleaning performance: To see how well each brush cleaned, a trained technician measured plaque levels in volunteers after having them skip brushing and using other dental products for at least 12 hours. Each then brushed using one of the electric toothbrushes for 2 minutes. The cleaning performance score was calculated based on the before-and-after differences in plaque levels. If a toothbrush came with multiple brushing modes or brush heads, we tested the modes most likely to be used in daily life and scored it based on the mode and head combination that performed best. This is the most important factor in the Overall Score of a toothbrush.
Ease of use: Testers told us about how easy it was to attach the brush head, how messy it was to use (such as whether it caused any mirror splatter or any foam ran down on a tester’s hand), and how comfortable the device felt to hold and use. We also factor in whether brushes have the most useful extra features: a timer and a pressure sensor.
Battery performance: This test measured how long it took for devices to charge (for the rechargeable brushes we tested), how long it took for them to run out of battery, and how easy the charging process was for users.
Noise: Testers were asked to evaluate the noise level for each device. Most devices are comparable on this front, so it’s a small factor in the Overall Score.
