Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush

My overall rating

I've been a fan of Oral-B CrossAction manual toothbrushes for years, so this review uses the Oral-B CrossAction as a reference point to what a good toothbrush should be. First thing that is noticeable about the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush is...   +

I've been a fan of Oral-B CrossAction manual toothbrushes for years, so this review uses the Oral-B CrossAction as a reference point to what a good toothbrush should be.

First thing that is noticeable about the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush is its rather odd dimensions. Although lengthwise it measures a similar length to an Oral-B CrossAction, the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush's handle is noticeably thinner than the Oral-B CrossAction (1 cm at its thickest point versus the 2 cm diameter of the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush handle). The overall rounded shape of the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush's handle all around (including the rubberized grip, whose lateral grip lines also contour around the handle) causes much slippage and unwanted toothbrush turning when trying to brush one's teeth (especially if the toothpaste leaks down to the handle during brushing, creating a slippery situation). The bristle quality is questionable, as throughout my week trial with it, bristles continually detached from the brush head and have been protruding upward from the center of the brush head (mind you, none have outright detached). Bristle placement is satisfactory, and Oral-B's claim that the bristle-cup-design adequately cups toothpaste to the brush head when brushing teeth is accurate, however, the sheer length of the bristles are MUCH too long. Despite writing this review on a site called ChickAdvisor.com, I am a 5 foot 8, 170 pound man, and I can tell you that even with my average man-sized mouth (with even more mouth space since my wisdom teeth were removed), the bristles of the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush, measuring on average 1 cm in length, are far longer than the bristles of the Oral-B CrossAction (with the Oral-B CrossAction's bristles measuring on average 70 mm in length). What this does is cause the Oral-B 3D White Vivid Toothbrush to often torque out of place when brushing. With the sheer size of the bristles (combined with the overall rounded handle) the bristles can not comfortably enter the mouth and still accommodate the back of the brush head entering the mouth when brushing the three sides of the back teeth (where entering the mouth with the toothbrush head is necessary to reach these back-teeth) and thus, the toothbrush has to be constantly adjusted and gripped VERY firmly in order to not slip out of place, causing both irritation in the mouth and irritation on the hand once brushing is completed.

The added rubberized tongue-cleaner on the back of the brush head actually feels nice and can be used WHILE brushing teeth through tongue placement during brushing, however, said tongue scraper actually irritates the inner-lips when brushing the outer-facing surface of teeth (unless the lower and upper lips are strained out of the way when brushing, something that is not easily accomplished either just having woken up in the morning or just before bedtime after a long day).

The price point ($3.99 at FutureShop...yes, I said FutureShop : ) is on par with what is offered from other manual toothbrushes, however, I cannot help but feel that better products can be had at similar prices (such as the Oral-B CrossAction at the same price.)    -