You may not think there’s a lot of difference in quality between manual toothbrushes. But you would be wrong.
There’s a lot of things that can vary from toothbrush to toothbrush. There are also a lot of people who want to trick you into paying more.
If you want to choose the best manual toothbrush without overpaying, you should take a look at our advice.
How Often To Replace Your Toothbrush
A lot of people don’t realize they need to replace their toothbrushes. But the reality is, toothbrushes are not made to last.
Depending on the device you have, you may need to replace the entire toothbrush or just the brush head. Either way, make sure you are replacing your toothbrush often.
You may have the best manual toothbrush now. But if you aren’t replacing it often enough, your brush may be doing more harm than good.
How could you be harming yourself? Well, do you brush your teeth when you’re sick?
If you do, you can be reintroducing the disease every time you reuse your toothbrush. That can mean days off work and the pain of going through your illness again.
Replacing a toothbrush isn’t expensive. You can buy a pack of five toothbrushes for under $5. You may even be able to get them for free after a dental cleaning.
With that in mind, there’s really no reason not to replace your old toothbrushes. The cost of a toothbrush is nothing compared to the cost of days off of work or treating the same disease twice.
Replace your toothbrushes every three months, or whenever the bristles get frayed. Don’t let yourself get sick because of short-sightedness.
Choosing The Best Manual Toothbrush
When you’re looking for a manual toothbrush, you need to consider things from two sides.
The first is what you prefer. The best manual toothbrush is always the one you’re going to use. If your gums are sensitive, hard bristles that may efficiently get off plaque but make your gums bleed in the process are not the best option.
The second is what gets germs off effectively. If a toothbrush is the wrong size for your mouth or has ineffective bristles, then you might as well brush with your finger like it’s a middle school sleep over.
Don’t forget to consider both factors. Having a good toothbrush you never use is no better than having no toothbrush at all.
Here’s a deeper look at the features you’ll find in the best manual toothbrush.
Bristle Variety
Bristle variety is an extremely important element in toothbrushes. There are three types of bristles: soft, medium, and had.
Soft bristles are the best for the majority of people. Because people often brush their teeth harder than they need to, using a soft bristled toothbrush ensures that you won’t cause damage to your gums or enamel.
Comparing this to a medium or hard-bristled toothbrush, the benefits are clear. Somebody using either of these can cause serious damage to their teeth every time they brush. And because a lot of people brush their teeth more as a knee-jerk reaction to any dental health challenges, damage can snowball and cause a need for serious dental treatment.
Bristle Arrangement
Just as bristles come in a variety of types, they also come in a variety of arrangements on your brush.
Common bristle arrangements each have their advantages and disadvantages.
Block
The block arrangement is the standard arrangement. When you picture a toothbrush, chances are you’re picturing one with the block bristle arrangement.
While this is not the best manual toothbrush arrangement, it is functional and probably the most common.
Wavy
A wavy bristle toothbrush has the bristles organized in a “wave” fashion. The benefit of this pattern comes in its relationship to the gums. Using a wavy toothbrush, you can brush the areas around your teeth along with your teeth themselves while brushing.
That being said, you absolutely need to floss daily.
If you do find that daily flossing isn’t enough, a wavy toothbrush may be the best manual toothbrush to supplement your flossing.
Multi level
The multi level bristle formation is more recent.
It is defined, as the name implies, by having bristles of varying lengths. Supporters of the formation say that it’s the best manual toothbrush for that reason.
The idea of the formation is this: the multilevel design of the toothbrush allows it to lift plaque and bacteria off of the tooth more easily.
Either a multi level or wavy toothbrush design is better than the traditional design. And that makes sense because building the best manual toothbrush is about innovation.
These designs show how far the manual toothbrush has come since its inception, and the plaque on your teeth should be afraid.
Tongue Scrubbers
A number of newer toothbrushes also come with a tongue cleaner on the back.
The tongue cleaner is a soft section of the toothbrush head with a series of incredibly small indents. The idea is that using it makes cleaning your tongue far easier.
A tongue cleaner is a great feature for your toothbrush. A number of different types of mouth bacteria can be transmitted and stored on the human tongue. Using the bristles on your tooth brush may irritate the tongue and cause you to stop brushing it before they are dealt with.
Using the tongue scrubber on the back of your toothbrush can help. And it’s particularly helpful for anyone with a “coated tongue” caused by factors ranging from smoking to medication use.
Talk To Your Dentist
Ultimately, the best manual toothbrush for you has a lot to do with your personal habits and needs.
That’s why you should have a consultation with your dentist about what you can do to improve your dental health.
If you’re looking for a highly qualified dental professional to speak to on this issue, we can help. We provide affordable and quality dentistry for people of all ages.
We know teeth, so contact us for advice on choosing your next brush.