No one knows oral health quite like board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Jason Auerbach, who’s also known as @bloodytoothguy to more than 188,000 followers on Instagram, where he dishes out oral health tips and tricks. Safe to say, if there’s anyone to trust for a toothbrush rec, it’s this pro.
As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Auerbach, AKA @BloodyToothGuy to his 188,000 Instagram followers, views oral care through a wider lens than just a squeaky clean smile.
“Oral maxillofacial surgery is the surgical specialty within the world of dentistry,” Dr. Auerbach says. “It's kind of a hybrid between medicine and dentistry,”
The bigger picture view from his surgical background is exactly why he takes oral health so seriously: Foundational habits matter, and the twice-daily brush is about as foundational as it gets.
Brushing is basic. Doing it well is the point.
“A lot of people are starting to recognize that inflammation anywhere in the body, including the mouth, is very negative for the body, the health, or systemic health in general,” says Auerbach. “The primary way we do that in the mouth is to keep our soft tissue as healthy as possible, and we do that by removing as much debris as we possibly can.
“The more soft tissue inflammation you have, the more bone loss, the more systemic inflammation you have, and the more problems downstream we see from that,” he says. “Everyone brushes their teeth, I would assume or hope. But hopefully, if you do it the right way, the results that you get are much better in terms of longevity and oral health in general.”
For this, the right brush matters. And given that there are a “a million different examples of the electric toothbrush,” it can be hard to know where to begin in your search.
For Auerbach, however, there’s just one he’d buy again.
“The one that I like the best is Philips Sonicare DiamondClean,” he says. “As many times as I've looked into different options, it seems to be the one that I come back to most often.”
The toothbrush that stops you from overdoing it
With most electric toothbrushes, Auerbach says, there’s a certain checklist most brands meet: “Most of the companies that are out there, at least at the elevated aspect of what they're doing, have similar qualities or similar things that they do. So, yes, [the brush] has a timer, it has a pressure sensor, there's a lot of feedback.”
What sets this one apart, he says, is that “this specific one is gentle on the gums, but it feels more powerful. That's due to the sonic action.”
What most people don’t realize, he says, is that they’re prone to brushing too hard, and that’s why the pressure sensor and sonic action set the Philips Sonicare apart.
“Again, the pressure sensor matters more than people realize, because the more you scrub, the more damage you can do to the enamel, the more damage and trauma you can do to your soft tissues,” he says. “It's definitely not good.”
That “just back from the dentist” feeling
“The thing about this is that I always feel like every time I use it — this is going to sound like an ad — but it makes your mouth feel like it was professionally cleaned when you're done,” Auerbach says. “You leave the dentist office after you have your cleaning every X number of months or twice a year or four times a year, whatever, there's a different feeling. And that feeling is basically an everyday feeling when you're using this.”
Part of it comes from Philips’ proprietary brush head, which is designed to deliver a great clean with its sonic vibrations.
“This actually has an elongated head, more akin to a typical toothbrush shape, but it's got a sonic piece versus the vibration, which is a different thing,” Auerbach says. “Vibration is vibration, but when you're talking about ultrasonic vibration, it's happening at a significant rate, and it's doing things that a typical brush doesn't necessarily do.”
The only downside? “For some people, if they have to be cost-conscious, it may not be the right brush for them,” he says. For a more budget-friendly option in the Philips family tree, Auerbach suggests the Philips Sonicare 5700 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush with Brush Head.
