Sensitive is also a great choice for first time electric toothbrush users. It makes for a more pleasing introduction to the increased power such brushes offer. But, at 2+ weeks it falls short of the industry average which is really at 3-4 weeks. By no means is this a deal breaker when considering the Pro 3. For the vast majority of us, 1 cleaning mode is all we need. I don’t use all 7 modes on my iO Series 9. We don’t have an extensive list of must-have features, but there are a few that our in-house dentists feel are really worthwhile: a 2 minute timer, a pacer and a pressure sensor. These are included in all but the cheapest of brushes these days. The 2 minute timer and pacer help you clean your teeth evenly

There are cheaper alternatives from Oral-B and other lesser known brands but these come with compromises. It will stand upright on a countertop and strategically placed raised dots on the rear of the handle prevent the brush from rolling along a flat countertop. While Oral-B has partnered with schemes such as TerraCycle in some countries, it does not yet have its own recycling scheme for used brush heads or faulty products. Whilst power is far from the most important factor in achieving good cleaning results, I am often asked how many oscillations and pulsations models offer. A softer, dimpled texture to the plastic body also replaces the raised lines that have adorned the rear of brush handles such as the Smart 4.

Great cleaning, useful features and superb battery life – this is the best affordable electric toothbrush

This is a fantastic price given the cleaning performance and dentist recommended features it boasts. It really is a must buy. Don’t worry if you brush too hard. When detected, the motor will slow the brush head movements until the pressure is relieved.

This is common amongst electric toothbrushes, but it has not been designed to be easily repaired by yourself. Trying to replace parts like the battery will likely break the brush. This makes it more likely to be discarded rather than repaired if broken. Its brush heads are made from petroleum-based plastic, which uses up the planet’s finite resources compared to using plant-based plastics. To achieve healthy teeth you need to give all of them fairly equal attention, not just the ones at the front that are visible when you smile. Like many brushes today, I anticipate that in 5 or more years, this could still easily be your daily toothbrush, there isn’t a need for regular replacement. As soon as you power on the iO3, the 2 minute timer and pacer are activated. The pacer momentarily pauses the brushing action every 30 seconds to tell you to move on to the next part of the mouth. After 2 minutes the alert changes slightly to tell you that you have brushed for long enough.

Scrubbing and using lots of force as you brush will damage the teeth and gums over the long term. Oral-B has for many years built pressure sensors into their toothbrushes and the Pro 3 is no exception. It is relatively easy to spot out of the corner of the eye or in the mirror if you brush in front of one. You don’t get any vibration or alert through the handle like you do with the Sonicare 3100 Series. The iO heads are still fairly small and round, but they are marginally taller, which might, for a small minority, pose a bit of an issue reaching some spaces in the mouth. Unlike the Smart 5 5000 and older models from Oral-B, the Pro 3 doesn’t have any large rubber panels on the handle to aid with grip. There’s a small section around the power button, but the result is a much cleaner look to the handle.

Unlike some brushes, the Pro 3 3500 doesn’t power off automatically. This may be a disappointment to some, but it’s not a big issue. The visible pressure sensor will alert you when you are brushing too hard There are no gloss plastics here. Instead, there is a matt finish to the plastic body that somehow feels quite grippy to the touch despite the reduced number of textured surfaces and gripping points compared to models like the Vitality Pro. When low, the battery notification LED will flash red and you may notice the motor slow. A full recharge takes up to 12 hours. The battery LED will flash green whilst charging, before turning off once complete.

I would say they are about 10 percent larger than non-iO heads. What you get in the box with the standard iO3 (for illustration purposes) It’s not as quiet as many other brushes, but far less noisy than non-iO models The PRO 3, on top of the Daily clean and Sensitive modes, comes with a specialized whitening clean mode. Oral-B brushes are far more noisy than most electric toothbrushes, but the iO Series handles are quieter. When the handle detects you are brushing with excess force the motor will slow the brush head and the light ring at the top of the handle will illuminate red. When it does, you need to relieve the pressure until the light goes out. weeks is the claimed usable life of the Lithium-Ion battery sealed inside the brush handle, based on 2 cleans per day each 2 minutes in length. I achieved 19-20 days and have noticed much more consistent battery performance than the iO Series brushes.

This feature protects your gums by signalling you if you're brushing too hard. The 360° pressure sensor turns red and automatically slows brush speed.Included in the box is a single brush head. Oral-B’s oscillating-rotating brush heads are smaller than the sonic ones from the likes of Sonicare and can feel quite aggressive in comparison. They do make it easy to reach the tightest of spaces, though. The iO Series does use a newer motor and handle design that doesn’t have years and years of reliability data, but as an established player in the market, Oral-B knows a lot of the failure points and has tried to mitigate these with the iO Series.