ExamineHealth

 

I always have had a soft spot in my heart for scientific improvements to mundane objects and mechanisms.  The idea that we've reached the technological pinnacle of practically anything is far-fetched.  There are thousands of scientists on this planet working day in and day out to come up with new improvements to ways that we already do something.  Sometimes these improvements are to something grand and exciting, while other times they sneak into something relatively commonplace.

Interestingly enough, the toothbrush is an item that has had major improvements in the last several years.  The advent of battery-operated toothbrushes has changed the way a lot of people brush their teeth on a regular basis.  Sonicare and Oral-B both have very popular motorized toothbrush offerings, and each use different technology to accomplish what is in effect a mechanical improvement to the way that our toothbrush bristles scrape, brush, or vibrate the plaque off of our teeth.  We believe this is a significant improvement to the standard toothbrush because plaque is stubborn stuff.  It's sticky and gummy and doesn't generally like to be removed from the surface of our teeth.  To make matters worse, our teeth are built with plenty of little cracks and crevices that the plaque can hideout in.  So much so that sometimes a little violence is something that is expected to dislodge the slimy material from our only set of teeth that we're given.  This concept is especially realized when we visit the dentist, where they break out the metal pick and manually scrape your teeth.  This is rarely a pleasant experience, but is generally agreed to be the best way to eliminate plaque.

Of course, equally as agreed upon, is that prevention is the best solution.  That by maintaining clean teeth in between dentist cleanings that you can keep the levels of plaque low.  Unfortunately friction-based methods of removing plaque simply aren't good enough.  In a study done comparing powered toothbrushes to manual toothbrushes involving 29 separate trials with 2547 participants, even the best powered toothbrush provided only a 7-11% increase in the removal of plaque when compared to manual toothbrushing.  The fact is that plaque attaches to the teeth through an electrostatic bond and friction alone (mechanical action) just cannot break this bond.

The ionic toothbrush looks like a regular toothbrush, however it contains a small lithium battery within the handle.  This battery charges the toothbrush bristles, reversing the polarity of the plaque ions and causing them to release the electrostatic bond with your teeth.  With your teeth and the plaque oppositely charged they literally push away from each other.  The plaque instead becomes attracted to the bristles of the toothbrush itself and jump from your teeth to the toothbrush.  This is accomplished via contact and requires very little physical friction.  In fact, toothpaste is not necessary for this action to occur either.  Using this toothbrush you can use significantly less toothpaste, if you choose to use any at all.

This technology is not new, the ionic toothbrush has been around for a long time.  Recently improvements have been made to the battery designs which allow these toothbrushes to conform to the regular toothbrush shape that you've come to expect.  This toothbrush is relatively inexpensive and comes with extra heads that you can replace or share with someone.  The bristles are soft and the head is small.  The brush is extremely comfortable to use, regardless of it's ionic properties.  I have used mine until the battery died and continued using it until I could order another because I had become such a fan of the shape and size of the toothbrush itself. 

I've found that this toothbrush really does work, it gets your teeth cleaner than any other toothbrush I've used and is easy on your gums and mouth.  I have recently been taking a two-pronged approach of using the ionic toothbrush at night before going to bed, and using a powered toothbrush in the morning.  This way I'm covering my bases and maximizing the benefits of each brush.  I recommend giving the ionic toothbrush a try, it's a small investment into what could change the health of your teeth for the rest of your life. 

You can order the toothbrush that I use from Amazon, it's the Dr. Tung's Ionic Toothbrush and has a year long guarantee on the battery.  They make several other good oral health products as well, specifically interesting is the Snap-On Toothbrush Sanitizer - to make sure that you're not brushing germs back onto your teeth when you brush.

 

 

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