Me n My Electric Toothbrush

So I hate to say it, but I'm old. How do I know I'm old? Because I gave in, and bought one of them damned electric toothbrushes.

I didn't buy one because I WANTED one. I didn't buy one because I COVETED one. Hell, I didn't even buy one cuz I thought I NEEDED one. I bought one to prove a point, and maybe get my damned dental hygienist off my back. Because the thing is, every single appointment I've had in the last 2 years, I've gotten in shit for not flossing. And every single appointment I've had in the last 2 years, I've ALSO been told my teeth are only "okay". And while fine, I DON'T floss, other than that, I think I have pretty good teeth - they're very white, they're very straight, and I follow all the rules for having a clean mouth except for that flossing crap. But apparently, none of that matters, because EVERY SINGLE TIME, I get in shit. And lately, so does the husband.

So about a month ago, I bought the Oral-B 8850 - but in a different color than shown here. I bought it two weeks before our bi-annual dentist appointments to prove that point I so gently refer to above. I thought that if I bought this toothbrush, I could either convince the dental hygienist that I WAS flossing (because it claims to help with plaque and gingivitis), or I could convince her that there's NOTHING MORE I CAN DO TO BETTER MY TEETH if even an ELECTRIC toothbrush won't fix them!

And yet what happened? Well after only INTERMITTENT use by both of us for 2 weeks before our appointments, and specific use by both of us both the night BEFORE the appointment and the morning OF the appointment, we both got rave reviews from the damned hygienist. And I mean RAVE reviews! Without her even KNOWING we'd bought this thing, she commented to both of us about the lack of plaque, to both of us about how little cleaning she had to do this time, and about how our 'rating' had gone up - for BOTH of us! She also didn't mention a WORD about flossing? WTF?

And yea yea, if she were IN on the trickery, I'd have thought this was no more than a little game of Pavlov and his dog, but she WASN'T in on it, and we'd only used it INTERMITTENTLY. So suffice it to say, even if you bought it ONLY to have better dentist appointments, I gotta say it's worth it.

At $80, it ain't cheap - agreed. BUT... this one has some perks. First, it comes with a little rechargeable stand. Not ideal for travel, but see above re INTERMITTENT USE here people! Skip it on trips! Second, it comes with this little "pop-up" container IN the rechargeable stand that can hold up to four toothbrush "ends" (the part with the actual brush), so for a family of four, or a couple of just us two, it holds what you/we need. And third, that little container also has a handy-dandy LID on it to keep those damned poo particles floating around your bathroom, safely OFF your toothbrush(es), because you know, poo particles and toothbrushes DO NOT mix.

As for actually USING the Oral-B 8850, both the husband and I a month in, still find it a bit "weird" - it is so NOT normal to have this thing vibrating around your mouth while you kinda put no effort in. But even before we'd gone to the dentist, we both commented that our teeth felt surprisingly "clean". We couldn't put our finger on what it did better than we did (probably gets corners we don't), but they did, and DO, feel cleaner. So the Oral-B 8850 gets two surprising thumbs up from me.

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