Four "right" reasons to buy an electric toothbrush.

There clearly is a novelty effect associated with using an electric toothbrush. And we don't mean just for kids. A powered brush is a specialized tool. It has its own unique design and look, its own set of instructions. It brings a new element to brushing teeth. It feels different than a manual toothbrush. It sounds different. We could go on.

The salient point here is that "new and different" may very well translate into an increased motivation for a person to brush their teeth. Yes, with time any novelty effect can be expected to wane (although possibly never entirely). But if the novelty phase has created a situation where the person is now accustom to using their brush (or more hopefully really, become accustom to the state of improved oral health that their electric has helped them to achieve) then it can be considered to be money well spent.

2) Powered toothbrush use often conveys a sense of oral hygiene "accomplishment."

Especially in the case of very ineffectual tooth brushers, the use of an electric brush can provide a person with an indication that, yes, they really do have some oral hygiene issues that need correcting. And also, the continued use of their brush can provide positive feedback to them that their new home care routine is producing results.

Some of the signs of ineffective tooth brushing are gum sensitivity, gum tissue bleeding and tooth staining. Because of this, it is very common that a new power toothbrush owner will notice slight gum tissue bleeding or minor gum sensitivity when they initially use their brush. (For this very reason, many electric toothbrushes feature an introductory reduced-power setting.) Then over time as the use of their brush has improved the health of their gums these symptoms typically subside. This sign of improved oral health can provide motivation and understanding to the person about the need for proper oral home care.

Along these same lines, it is expected that the use of an electric toothbrush will help to prevent tooth staining (fixed debris accumulation on a tooth's surface). And, in some cases, it may be that the use of an electric will even remove existing staining. Either way, this newfound effectiveness can provide motivation for a person to continue on with their new, improved brushing habits.

3) Many electric toothbrushes feature brushing timers.

Some of the best powered toothbrushes have brushing timers incorporated into their design. Some even feature "interval" timers that can help a person to judge how much time they should dedicate to brushing each individual region of their mouth.

A general recommendation from the dental community is that a person should brush for at least two minutes. Research has shown, however, that most people misjudge the amount of time they do spend brushing by almost half. The availability of a timer can provide a benchmark that can assist a person in judging the type of time frame their bushing session should entail. Typically, longer brushing sessions translate in to more thorough dental plaque removal, which of course is the whole goal.

4) Didn't you know? An electric toothbrush does all of the work for you.

Of course there is the obvious reason to buy an electric toothbrush, it does all of the work for you. Well, not really. What a powered toothbrush does do however is create an effective brushing stroke on its own. This means that all the user has to do is guide the brush around to the different parts of their mouth. It doesn't take a lot of skill, or even effort, to do that.

And although an electric toothbrush can't really do all of the brushing work for you, for most of us it probably does helps us to brush more efficiently, at least in terms of brushstrokes-per-minute. And for anyone with a short brushing attention span this can be a very positive thing.