Do You Really Need an Electric Toothbrush for Better Oral Health? Here’s What an Expert Says

When it comes to the best way to clean your teeth, is it truly worth it to shell out big bucks for an electric toothbrush — or is an old-school manual style one sufficient to keep cavities at bay?

“It really depends on the person,” Dr. Anne Clemons, a dentist with the Cleveland Clinic, tells PEOPLE. “For a lot of people, an electric brush can make it easier to do a better job. And there are certainly some people where dexterity is an issue, or they have a difficult time using a manual brush, and an electric brush has a real benefit.”

“Some people find the electric toothbrush more fun and more enjoyable to use, maybe more motivating,” Clemons adds, explaining, however, that at the end of the day, it’s just “a helpful tool, part of the toolbox.”

“What we’re trying to do is get to every surface of every tooth to remove this pretty soft — and frankly, pretty easily removable plaque — that’s on the teeth,” the dentist continues. “It’s just a matter of taking the time and being thoughtful to actually hit every surface of the tooth.”

According to Clemons, it is a common misconception that force must be used when brushing teeth.

“People tend to go quickly and not deliberately, and just scrub all around and spend some time all around the mouth, but they may miss whole sections of the teeth,” she says, explaining that this can leave plaque behind. 

“You can do a great job brushing all the teeth in two minutes,” Clemons continues.

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And whether an electric or manual toothbrush is used, she adds, “It is not just about having a brush in your mouth for two minutes. It’s about being really deliberate.”

“That electric brush is gonna do a lot of the work for you, but you need to put it in the right place,” Clemons further states, detailing that an electric toothbrush should be angled “45 degrees towards the gum,” instead of held perpendicular to the tooth.

Clemons tells PEOPLE that she’s seen patients successfully make the switch from a manual toothbrush to an electric one.

“Using it really well and thoughtfully, it can make a big impact,” she says. “They’ve really seen a big difference in how clean their mouth is, and how the gums respond.”

But no matter how fancy a toothbrush is, it won’t take the place of the need to floss, Clemons adds.

”I know I have good toothbrushing technique, [but] I cannot clean between my teeth with a toothbrush. So if you don’t floss, or use some other appropriate method to clean between the teeth, there’s this whole surface area that you’re missing where plaque is staying, so the bacteria and food, potentially, is staying between the teeth and under the gum,” she states.

“Unfortunately, there is no substitute for cleaning every surface of the tooth — and that includes in between,” adds the specialist.