WOW!

Just picked one of these up the other day at Costco. I have been using a Crest Spinbrush for the last two years or so. Recently, Crest stopped shipping replacement heads for their Spinbrush series due to quality concerns. I went looking for a replacement.

All I can say about the Sonicare is that if you haven't tried one, you have no idea how awesome this thing is. It is completeley different than any kind of brushing you have ever done before. I was surprised at first that the instructions say not to scrub or push down any harder than a fingertip grip when brushing....but that's all it takes! Just place it on each tooth 1-2 seconds and you'll feel like you just had your teeth professionaly cleaned.

Yes, you can buy a $1 toothbrush and have clean teeth. But for those that care just a little more about their oral health it is well worth EVERY penny. You won't be disappointed.

Who needs Crest White Strips when you have a Sonicare toothbrush! I drink tea all the time, and this brush keeps my teeth just as white as my friends who use a standard brush AND white strips. I brush twice or three times a day and it keeps my teeth post-dental office clean. I also enjoy the fact that the sonic waves get above the gum line, while with regular brushes you have to scrub your way up. Ouch!

I love the quad timer on it, too. Nice little thought from someone at Sonicare. 30 seconds....BEEP! Switch to the other side of your mouth. 30 more seconds....BEEP! Switch to the bottoms. This goes on for 2 minutes (4 beeps) until before you're done and it shuts off.

It does have a twitchy battery, however. But if you leave it in its charging unit (like you will most days while you're at work or away), it works just fine. But take it on vacation for a day or two and you might run into some problems.

Other than that, though, this is an amazing little piece of dental technology.

always searching for that One Brush that will make my teeth shine&sparkly. this Brush is tight&leaves My Mouth&breath truly Fresh.it truly blows away the other brands. this is some top of the line product big time.you smile wider&feel good after using this Brush.

UPDATED on 4/27/05: My comments about concerns over battery / charging circuit design remain as noted below. However, in fairness to Sonicare, they have just confirmed that they are replacing my unit without charge (it is roughly 2 years old but they did not require a receipt or clear proof of purchase). Also important, the new unit will start with a new two year warranty in place. Based on this, their customer service and responsiveness deserve an extra 'virtual star' since I cannot revise my initial rating to four stars!

ORIGINAL COMMENTS: If I could break down my 'stars' into two groups, it would be a 5 Star for brushing effectiveness and a 1 Star for battery / charging circuit design. Given that most reviews have already sung the praises of the brushing effectiveness to which I generally agree, I will limit my comments to the battery / charging circuit issue.

One reviewer wrote about the excellent customer service they found when their battery died after a short period of time. That is great news for them. However, over the past four years we have owned 4 Sonicare units (2 Advanced followed by 2 Elites) and as of yesterday we are up to 3 dead units due to battery failure. A 75% failure rate STRICTLY DUE TO BATTERIES / CHARGING CIRCUT DESIGN which results in the rest of the unit needing to be replaced or trashed is simply a poor design.

If customer service replaces the unit within the 2 years, that is great customer service which compensates somewhat for poor design, but our first 2 units failed shortly after 2 years and within about a month apart and Sonicare did not offer any assistance. Just throw it away and buy another! Which we did! And now we are faced with the same problem (I am communicating with Sonicare on this and will update things if they decide to replace the unit out of fairness to them).

But no matter what, if you are a propsective purchaser of a Sonicare Elite you should at least be aware that there does appear to be a flaw in their battery technology and circuit design which allows the battery to fail long before it ever should. (As an aside, the first Sonicare units replaced a Braun Oral-B unit. We liked the Sonicare better than the old Oral-B, but the Oral-B still holds a charge perfectly, as does my Braun shaver, both of which are over 5 years in use! Three Sonicare battery failures out of four, so far, cannot be a coincidence.)

For the technical among you, Sonicare uses an older NiCad battery technology but recommends keeping the unit in the charging base when not in use. NiCads have a history of 'memory effect' which begins to reduce the cycle times if it is continuously kept charging. That is why most everything has switched to NiMH or L-Ion batteries. But not Sonicare. I tried not following their instructions (i.e. keeping the unit outside the charging base until the battery was almost drained which is how most companies advise NiCad batteries to be treated) and the one 'Advance'd model that I did this with failed. But so did the other one that was in the charger all the time, so ???? As for the new Elites, they were kept in the charger as recommended by Philips / Sonicare but once again a unit has failed. Can the final unit be far behind?

So, 5 stars for the brushing effectiveness - 1 star for battery / circuit design. Know this when you buy one. Even with this, it may be worth your $125 every 2 years for the great brushing results. As for me, I may relook at the newer Oral-B designs.

I have read many contradictory reviews, opinions and studies about the relative benefits of brushing with Sonicare, Braun/Oral B and manual brushes. Some people, including dentists, believe the Sonicare is no more, no less efficient than good old manual brushing; some others claim the Oral B does a better job than the Sonicare.
From what I've put together with all this information, the bottom line is that a Sonicare is not significantly better for people under 30 with good oral hygiene and no periodontal problems.

However, if you are over 30 and/or if you have periodontal pockets or your gums bleed when you brush, a properly used Sonicare is an invaluable tool, the only one that can actually reverse periodontal pockets (my 4s and 5s have become 2s and 3s in a little over a year of twice-daily use) and restore healthy, non-bleeding gums.

Key to this is proper use. If you use it like a regular brush it will not help you anymore than a regular brush, and you will have wasted your money. Unlike regular brushes, you need to keep the brush motionless at a 45 degree angle at the base of each tooth for about 10 seconds. The QuadPacer feature is very useful to monitor this. It will take 2 cycles of two minutes each to treat your entire mouth. One cycle for the top, one for the bottom.

Complement this with daily flossing (Reach Access is great if you hate dealing with those pesky strings) and rince for 30 seconds with Listerine after brushing, and I guarantee your dentist will be amazed at your next visit.

The 7500 package comes with a convenient travel case, but only one brush head. The pompously named "deluxe wall mount" is a stupid piece of plastic that will hold the brush and one extra head, but does not charge the brush so it's pretty much useless: if you don't want to keep the brush in its charging cradle between brushings for lack of countertop space, you would probably want to cover the bristles with the supplied transparent cap and put the brush away in a drawer, instead of sticking this ugly thing on the wall. I wonder what they were thinking when they designed this one!

The bundled travel case, however, is very convenient and stays shut unlike earlier versions which shipped with the Advance model. Unfortunately the charger has to be packaged separately. It would be nice if Philips/Sonicare would offer a travel charger; the battery will only last a few days of regular use, so you need to pack the charger if you go on a week-long trip, and that's yet another piece to get lost in the luggage.

The handle features a two-level power setting (normal and "training"), and an illuminated LED battery charge indicator.

The brush handle is sealed, however the attachment of the brush to the handle is not; it's a good idea to remove the brush from the handle every few days to clean and air dry the inside of the brush attachment area, a very minor issue.

I love my Sonicare; it has completely reversed my gum disease, and that is something that no other brush could have done. It may be overkill for younger people, but if you have gum disease, you could not do yourself a better favor than to buy a Sonicare and learn to use it properly.