There are a ton of electric toothbrushes on the market today for kids. These toothbrushes, if you pay attention to the marketing hype, claim to clean their teeth better than the old reliable "arm powered" toothbrush grandpa used to use. Is there any real benefit to your child using an electric toothbrush? Considering the electric toothbrush will cost three times as much, or more, as the old reliable plastic wonder that us adults grew up with, is the cost worth it? Will little Billy actually enjoy brushing his teeth for a change? Let's find out.
The fun factor. Kids like to have fun. We adults might learn something here. If the child is having fun "playing" with his or her new electric toothbrush, the theory goes that they might just hang around the sink and brush longer. There are even cool colors and characters on some brushes that play up the fun factor even more. You might also try kid toothpaste if your child isn't using it already. The taste is better than the minty stuff we adults use.
Ok, so the electric is fun, but can it clean? Drum roll, please... The American Dental Association says, maybe. Maybe? The ADA rides the fence here claiming that either the electric of the manual brush can do an effective job cleaning a persons teeth. They also said that persons who cannot brush effectively due to some physical problem, may find that an electric toothbrush can be helpful. So if there are any motor skill impairments, an electric brush may be your friend.
What should I buy? There are a bunch of electric brushes for kids. The cheapest start at around or so, and go up from there. For a kid just starting out in the big world of electric brushes, it probably would be best to go with the cheapest model first, then if he or she likes using it move on to the more pricier models. The main difference between pricing is the cheaper models use standard batteries, the more expensive ones use rechargeable. Make sure the heads are replaceable and are child sized.
