How Healthy are Your Gums?
Written: Jun 29 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Toughens gums; reverses symptoms of early periodontal disease
Cons: Replacement heads are expensive
|
|
|
| TheAdvocate's Full Review: Sonicare Advanced Qp3 Sonic Toothbrush 4300 with 2... |
Just over a year ago after I had the pleasure of experiencing my first crown – one of my molars had cracked and needed to be drilled down to a stub and covered over with a new "tooth." In order to make room for the crown, which is slightly bigger than the tooth it’s replacing, an oral surgeon removed just a bit of bone below the tooth. This procedure is known as "crown lengthening" (rather than "bone filing," which is more accurate but would probably dissuade anyone from actually going through with the procedure).
The whole crown process was a traumatic 3-month ordeal and when it was all over, my gums faced an almost monumental task of both healing and accepting the presence of the new crown (gums can be somewhat intolerant of new dental hardware). So, after my final visit to the dentist, I headed home with a swollen mouth, enflamed gums, a decimated bank account, and a new Sonicare electric toothbrush.
The Sonicare QP-3 has been reliable (no technical problems) and it really does improve the health of the gums, not only by thoroughly cleaning the mouth, but also by stimulating blood flow to the gums. Studies apparently show that the Sonicare removes plaque below the gumline. The 31,000 brush strokes per minute have the effect of toughening the gums, so the typical symptoms of early periodontal disease (bleeding, light swelling) are quickly reversed – I’d say my gums stopped their daily bleeding ritual after just a few days! Flossing is still recommended, and if you have large "pockets" (a measured depth between tooth and gum) you might try using a small cylindrical flossing brush, which you can find inexpensively at any drug store.
The Sonicare does require a certain level of maintenance. (Doesn’t everything?) Every week you need to remove the toothbrush head and scrub up inside, as well as around the threads on the base unit. If you share the Sonicare with another person, you’ll be removing the toothbrush heads daily as you take turns, but if you’re the sole user, you’ll have to remind yourself to take this step. And don’t rationalize that scrubbing may not be necessary; you’d be surprised at the accumulation that can build up if you wait longer than a week. (Trust me.)
My QP-3 apparently cost enough to warrant inclusion of the Quadpacer feature, which is really nothing more than a timer that goes off every 30 seconds for 2 minutes. When you first turn the Sonicare on, you’ll brush one quadrant of your mouth until the beep, then move to the second quadrant, and so on. Actually, this feature proved to be more valuable for keeping me from brushing too long rather than too briefly. And you really don’t want to overdo the Sonicare, especially on inexperienced gums.
Speaking of inexperienced gums… the QP-3 model has improved the method of easing new users into the Sonicare experience. Older models used a small, plastic washer-like disc that was placed inside the base of the head before screwing it into the unit. This disc kept the toothbrush head from vibrating at full power, and could be removed once the user was "up to speed." The QP-3 offers an updated feature called "easy-start ramp-up," which increases the vibrating power over the first 12 times the toothbrush is used.
The replacement brush heads are sorely overpriced at $20 each ($30 for a 2-pack), but they do come color-coded for family use and offer both the compact (8 rows of bristles) and ultra-compact (5 rows of bristles). Luckily, these expensive toothbrush heads need only be replaced every six months.
My biggest complaint has nothing to do with the Sonicare’s performance or reliability. Instead, it has to do with appearance: the hand-held unit has, over the last year, discolored from an off-white to a slightly yellowish-white. This change in color wouldn’t be so noticeable except for the replacement heads, which are discarded before they can age and discolor like the base unit. Otherwise, the Sonicare is plugging along just fine, and my mouth and gums are happy.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
TheAdvocate
|
|
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 98 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.