Electric Toothbrushes (& Water Flossers)
Sliced Bread
BBC
4.6 • 695 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2022
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Take a look down the aisle of any high street chemist and the array of electric toothbrushes on offer is as dazzling as the teeth they promise to give you. You can pay upto £500 for the latest versions whiose myriad features include interactive apps that give you feedback on your brushing technique.
The market is dominated by two big brands, both promising a ‘professional’ clean: Oral B, whose iO brush has an oscillating action and Philips’ Sonicare, which uses tens of thousands of vibrations every minute to clean your teeth.
After having to pay a lot more for private treatment because she couldn’t find an NHS dentist in her area, listener Holly got in touch to ask whether getting an electric brush might save her trips to the dentist in future. And wouldcould a more expensive brush really clean her teeth better than a cheaper electric one? Or even the trusty traditional (and far cheaper) manual one she currently uses?!
Greg takes to the dentists chair to find out, testing both the Oral B and Philips brands as well as one of the latest trends – water flossing, which claim even better results than regular flossing with tape or interdental brushes. Is it the best thing since sliced bread? Or marketing BS?
Greg guests this episode include a dental expert who's been studying electric brushes since their inception and the consumer group Which? who ranked electric toothbrushes in a recent consumer test of their own.
This series, we’re testing your suggested wonder-products. Seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there's any evidence to back up the claim? Tell us! Drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk .
PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, podcast fan. |
| 0:03.0 | Consider this your invite to the UK's biggest podcasting party. |
| 0:06.7 | We're heading to Sheffield from the 4th to the 6th of July |
| 0:09.0 | for the BBC Sounds Fringe at the Crossed Wires Festival. |
| 0:12.8 | We'll be joined by some of the biggest names in podcasting, |
| 0:15.3 | including Sarah Cox, Charlie Hedges, Russell Kane, |
| 0:18.4 | and some bloke called Greg James doing his radio four show called Rewinder. |
| 0:23.2 | You can watch live shows of your favourite podcasts, |
| 0:25.3 | and the best part is free. |
| 0:28.0 | To book your free tickets, |
| 0:29.3 | go to crossedwires.org slash fringe. |
| 0:34.1 | BBC Sounds, music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:49.1 | Hello, I'm Greg Foote and welcome to the show that finds the facts behind the fads. |
| 0:55.8 | If you have seen a wonder product making bold claims in an advert on TV or in a magazine or in your social media feeds, send it over and I will see if it stands up to scrutiny. Send your suggestions |
| 1:01.8 | by email to slice.bred at bbc.co.com. And do let me know your thoughts about these |
| 1:07.3 | investigations on Twitter or Instagram. I'm at Greg Foote. Today's investigation topic |
| 1:12.3 | comes from Holly Wagstaff in Cheshire. Hi Holly. Hi Greg. So what would you like me to |
| 1:20.9 | investigate for you this week? I needed a dental appointment and I tried to get an NHS |
| 1:26.1 | appointment but I couldn't get in anywhere. So I ended up having to pay for a private one and I tried to get an NHS appointment but I couldn't get in anywhere. So I ended up having |
| 1:29.0 | to pay for a private one and I was just absolutely shocked by the cost. So I came away having parted |
| 1:35.5 | with my money thinking is there something that I can buy to use myself at home which would help |
| 1:41.1 | me to avoid those costly treatments in future and maybe rival a dental clean at home. |
... |
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