Budget Powered Toothbrushes

Electric toothbrushes under $25

On the very low end of the price spectrum are nonrechargeable, battery-powered toothbrushes like the Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Pro Clean (*Est. $9), Oral-B CrossAction Power (*Est. $9) and discontinued Colgate Motion. A 2002 clinical study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Dentistry, gives a slight edge to the Spinbrush (then sold as a Crest product -- Arm & Hammer now markets the Spinbrush) over other battery-powered brushes, including the Colgate Motion. All, however, were said to do an adequate job of removing plaque. Another study, reported in the American Journal of Dentistry, shows the Spinbrush Pro Clean to be more effective at reducing plaque than manual toothbrushes.

These budget-priced, battery-powered toothbrushes are similar; all feature replaceable brush heads, and all take AA disposable or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries. The Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush only requires one battery, while the Crest and Colgate toothbrushes require two. Owners report that you should expect to change the batteries every two months or so, or possibly monthly, depending on how often and how long you brush. By the time you factor in the cost of batteries over a year's time, you might be better off with an initially more expensive, rechargeable electric toothbrush featuring an internal battery.

An electric toothbrush such as the Braun Oral-B Vitality (*Est. $18) is essentially the same as a battery-powered toothbrush, only with a rechargeable battery and stand. Unlike the pricier Oral-B and Sonicare electric toothbrushes, the Oral-B Vitality's brush heads spin, but they don't pulsate or oscillate. In the Good Housekeeping review, dentist Denis Vu praises the Oral-B Vitality for being "very effective for a very modest cost." In the test of 12 brushes at Which? magazine, a U.K.-market Oral-B Vitality model similar to U.S. versions gets good marks for cleaning and ease of use, but it has the worst battery life of all the units evaluated. The reviewers state, "With just 30 minutes per charge, you'll get just 2 weeks of brushing before having to re-charge, and charging takes 16 hours." Still, if you just keep the brush in its included charging stand, it will always be charged up.

If you're tired of replacing batteries in a battery-operated toothbrush, the Oral-B Vitality series appears to be a good choice. Although it doesn't win any head-to-head clinical trials against more expensive electric toothbrushes, owners say it's better than manual brushing, and it doesn't cost much. In the U.S. there are three Vitality models: the Sonic Clean, Dual Clean and Precision Clean. All three are well-regarded by Amazon.com users, but the Dual and Precision Clean models earn higher average user ratings than the Sonic. The Dual Clean version has two brushes on its head; the other two versions have one spinning brush.