The sonic toothbrush acts just like regular ones: they move back and forth over the surface of your teeth at high speed, scrubbing away the plaque. Nevertheless, the sonic toothbrush does establish a truly effective brushing action, primarily because of the high number of brush strokes per minute that these toothbrushes can generate. A sonic toothbrush is generated by batteries and capable of producing more than 30,000 brush strokes per minute, shifting four or five times as much plaque (rotting, sugary food debris) as ordinary, manual toothbrushes. Compare that number to the number of brush strokes produced by brushing by your hand which is normally considered to be in the neighborhood of 300 strokes per minute. The better non-sonic type electric toothbrushes on average generate somewhere between 2,500 and 7,500 brush strokes per minute, which is only about one fourth the number of brush strokes created by sonic toothbrushes.

One study was conducted (our Stanford et al reference) where tooth enamel samples were allowed to accumulate a film of dental plaque. These samples were then exposed to the brushing action of either a Sonicare ® toothbrush or else a conventional, non-sonic type, electric toothbrush. After this brushing period the enamel samples were evaluated for cleanliness by way of viewing them under a scanning electron microscope. Here’s what the study found:

Variation #1: The Sonicare ® toothbrush was held in direct contact with the enamel sample. [An evaluation of the conventional cleaning (tooth surface scrubbing) action of sonic toothbrushes.]

95% of the dental plaque harbored on the enamel samples was dislodged if the contact between the sonic toothbrush and the enamel surface was for a duration of at least 5 seconds. If the contact time was 10 seconds or longer essentially all of the dental plaque was removed.

Variation #2: The Sonicare ® toothbrush was held 2mm (a little more than 1/16th of an inch) from the surface of the enamel sample surface. [No direct contact between the sonic toothbrush and the enamel sample surface.]

65% of the dental plaque originally inhabiting the enamel sample was removed by the fluid forces generated by the sonic toothbrush when it was held at this distance for at least 5 seconds.

Variation #3: The Sonicare ® toothbrush was held 3mm (just short of 1/8th of an inch) from the surface of the enamel sample surface. [No direct contact between the sonic toothbrush and the enamel sample surface.]

The fluid forces that were generated by the sonic toothbrush were able to produce the following cleaning effects in the listed time frames. 58% plaque reduction at 5 seconds, 63% plaque reduction at 10 seconds, 76% plaque reduction at 15 seconds.

Variation #4: The conventional electric toothbrush [one generating 4,200 brush strokes per minute) was held 3mm from the surface of the enamel sample surface. [No direct contact between the electric toothbrush and the enamel sample surface.]

No significant dental plaque removal was observed.

Variation #5: The conventional electric toothbrush (one generating 4,200 brush strokes per minute) was held in direct contact with the enamel sample.

From these studies, it is obvious that the sonic toothbrush really does a great job. It is extremely effective at cleaning your teeth and keeping them healthy.

Well, we agree that a sonic toothbrush is a bit pricey. For a certain type it can be very very expensive. But believe me, it’s still cheaper than dental work! Certainly you will get what you’ve paid for.

Source: www.explainthatstuff.com and www.animated-teeth.com.