From cookers to taps, pots and pans in the kitchen, or tile grout and all those fiddly, hard-to-reach nooks and crannies in the bathroom, the SonicScrubber works like a large electric toothbrush, with an oscillating, sonic action that dislodges dirt in no time. Be warned though. With so many uses around the home, you'll find it hard to put down! Reminders: Dentists recommend that you change your toothbrush every three months for effective cleaning. However, you may not remember to do this especially if you’re using a manual toothbrush. Sonic brush, therefore, helps you brush effectively by reminding you to replace the brush head quarterly. It’s basic, with just one setting, but you do get a timer, with the brush pulsing every 30 seconds and switching itself off after two minutes. We also like the unusual pink, blue and yellow colour choices. Philips is widely seen as the technology leader with its Sonicare line of brushes, but we’ve also found several smaller brands that make excellent alternatives. As you move through the price range, you’ll generally find that you get higher speeds, quieter and more efficient motors, slimmer handles, and a longer battery life. Keep going, and you’ll also find additional features including Bluetooth connectivity, built-in sensors, and smart app support or a built-in screen. You don’t necessarily need these features to give your teeth a good, consistent brush, but they can help. Is there anything else worth looking out for? Sonic brush heads vibrate at speeds up to and above 30,000 strokes per minute. Brushing for two minutes with a sonic brush gains you greater cleaning power than non-sonic brushes, even electric brushes.

Modes are increasingly a big deal, giving you different speeds and patterns optimised for whitening, deep cleaning or sensitive teeth and gums. It’s not clear that all of these make a huge amount of difference, but having a slower, gentler mode that you can switch to a faster, more intense mode can be useful when you’re getting used to a new brush. The Philips Sonicare brushes use high-frequency sonic vibration technology that produces a side-to-side motion with up to 30,000 strokes per minute. The vibration, as well as fluid dynamics, give the Sonicare toothbrushes cleaning power of up to 10 times greater than a manual brush. Oral-B Sensor: Measures the pressure that you exert on your teeth while brushing. It helps to avoid over brushing and reduce the risk of abrasion due to excessive pressure on the gums or the teeth. Key specs – Cleaning modes: 3; Battery type: Li-ion; Accessories included: 2 brush heads, charging travel case, charger; Battery life (tested): 1hr 33mins; Warranty: 2yrs The best electric toothbrushes are clinically proven to do a better job than the manual brushes of old and should be part of everyone’s everyday dental routine. After all, we would all like squeaky clean teeth and a whiter smile – and absolutely no-one enjoys fillings or root canal surgery.With any electric toothbrush, heads are a big deal. Philips manufacturers a range of different heads aimed at specific dental needs, ranging from the basic Plaque Defence and ProResults head to the Whitening heads, Optimal Gum Care heads, Intercare and A3 Premium All-in-One heads. Some other brushes may be compatible with Philips heads, but on others you’ll get a basic head with high-quality DuPont bristles, but nothing special. On the plus side, they’ll often throw in a replacement head or two, and you may find the heads cheaper to replace in future. The vibrating head and bristles don’t just clean the surface of your teeth, but also propel microbubbles of fluid across the gumline and in between your teeth, shifting any food debris and helping break down any plaque. This keeps your teeth squeaky-clean and your gums nice and healthy, although some floss and mouthwash will still help you maintain an effective dental regime.

However, the top reason to get the DiamondClean 9000 is that you’ll be getting the best clean available in the Sonicare range, and one of the best from any electric toothbrush. The Deep Clean+ mode might be too much for some people, but, with three intensity settings, you can adjust the brush to suit your teeth, or simply switch to the regular Clean mode, or the White+ mode that will leave your teeth feeling polished. Meanwhile, the Gum Health mode is brilliant for treating soft, sensitive gums. The brush heads of electric toothbrushes move at speeds of 2,500 to 7,500 strokes per minute, which makes them about 20 times faster than manual brushes. Does it deliver a clean as good as the more expensive Sonicare models? Perhaps not. Even when you move beyond the Soft and Gum Care modes to the White and Polish options, you don’t quite get the power of a mid-range Philips brush, not to mention the alternatives from Oclean or Ordo. However, your teeth still feel clean after brushing, the Gum Care mode gives your gums a decent massage, and the Soft mode is ideal for first-time electric toothbrush users or those with sensitive gums. Otherwise, it’s worth looking out for pressure sensors that can warn you when you’re pressing too hard while brushing – or not hard enough. Plus, a brushing timer that sends a pulse through the brush when it’s time to stop brushing (usually two minutes), or time to move to another quadrant of your mouth (roughly every 30 seconds). Does it deliver as good a clean as the more expensive Sonicare models? Maybe not. Even when you move beyond its Soft and Gum Care modes for the White and Polish options, you don’t quite get the power of a mid-range Philips brush, not to mention alternatives from Oclean or Ordo. However, your teeth feel clean after brushing and the Gum Care mode gives your gums a decent massage, while the Soft mode is ideal for first-time electric toothbrush users or those with sensitive gums.If you’re looking for a toothbrush for everyday use, then you might want to up your budget. The ProClinical 150 gives you a better clean than a manual toothbrush, but not the kind of in-depth clean you’ll get from rechargeable sonic brushes, nor the same smooth, polished feel on the surface of your teeth. What’s more, while you get a two-minute timer, there’s no battery indicator or even any extra cleaning modes. However, you’ve got to love the simplicity, and those with more sensitive teeth or gums may prefer its easy-going manner. Battery life is the biggie. It’s now unusual to get an old-school NiMH battery that runs out in less than two weeks and takes most of a day to charge, but they still exist. More modern lithium-ion batteries will give you two to four weeks of brushing – or more – without a recharge, and will take anywhere between three and 12 hours to reach full capacity. As for the brush itself, it feels and works much like a mid-range Sonicare toothbrush, with four brushing modes designed for cleaning, whiting, sensitive teeth and a gum massage, and a nice, slim handle with a grippy, rubber feel. It switches itself off when the usual two-minute brush is done, and pulses every 30 seconds during use to remind you to brush another quadrant. Battery life is brilliant, with enough charge to get you through a good month of brushing before recharging via the USB cradle. Whether or not you fancy the subscription, this is a great sonic toothbrush at a very competitive price. However, finding the best toothbrush for you can be a minefield. Not only do all the toothbrushes look nigh-on identical, but the manufacturers seem to have decided that confusion is good for business, producing several different ranges with different characteristics all at the same time. It’s hard to distinguish between so many similar products, while the boxes and adverts bombard you with pseudo-science and marketing-speak. The One doesn’t have the brushing power of a larger Sonicare brush, but it’s ahead of other battery-powered electric toothbrushes and does a great job of leaving your teeth feeling shiny and clean. The relatively gentle movement is also brilliant for massaging along the gumline.

As before, the 3100 is compatible with the full range of Sonicare heads, and now supports BrushSync tech, with an LED indicator that lets you know when the head needs changing. What’s more, the clean isn’t far behind what you’d expect from Sonicare brushes twice the price. Sure, you only get 31,000 motions per minute where the top of the range models hit twice the speed, but your gnashers still come away feeling clean across the surface, and you get a nice, deep sweep along the gumline and between the teeth. You’ll have to pay more for extra cleaning modes and the battery life – just over 60 minutes – is disappointing, but this is still the best entry-level brush. Multiple modes: Some sonic toothbrushes have different cleaning modes that you can select depending on your preferences. If you have sensitive teeth, you can choose a mode that gives a gentler clean.What’s more, it delivers an excellent clean, with three modes – Sensitive, Daily Clean and Whitening – that take you all the way from a softer brush that’s easy on the gums to a more intense polish that should help get rid of staining. Battery life, meanwhile, is exceptional; you will easily get through two weeks of brushing and probably three without a recharge. It’s the new king of sensibly priced brushes. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{