Recent data from 29 clinical trials show that most battery-powered toothbrushes are no more effective at removing plaque than plain old plastic ones. A manual brush is just as good, says dentist Matt Messina, as long as you’re not simply “waving your brush at your teeth.” Only pricey rotation-oscillation models (those with bristles that circle in one direction, then the other, like the $25-to-$80 Braun Oral-B) perform better, removing 11 percent more plaque. But even that isn’t reason to run out and buy one: it may not translate into less chance of gum disease in the long term. “The whole multimillion-dollar market is founded on the weakest of science,” says Bill Shaw, who helped compile the data for the Cochrane Oral Health Group. Most trials have lasted less than three months, and the wildly popular SpinBrush has been through very few studies (it wasn’t included in the Cochrane report). Shaw, who uses a power brush himself, notes that at least it feels good, and it “isn’t worse than a manual brush.” In other words, it may not help your teeth, but it won’t hurt them, either. We can’t say the same for your wallet.
