Hasbro Tooth Tunes

My daughter had the usual long wish list for Christmas presents this year and apart from the pink ds everything else seemed to have high school musical preceeding the name of the present. I had the high school musical dressing gown, pjs slippers etc. and then just a few days before Christmas I spotted a high school musical tooth tunes musical toothbrush in Boots and thought it would just complete the set.

The toothbrush which is similarly sized and shaped to your average toothbrush claims to be a new innovation in toothbrushing as it plays High School Musical's "What Time Is It?" through your teeth up your jawbone and into your head for the recommended two minutes it should take to brush your teeth clean.

This happens as the brush itself has a chip embedded in the handle that plays the song and the unit is approved by the British Dental Health Foundation.

It was only when santa was placing the brush in her stocking on Christmas eve that I looked past the words high school musical and realized that the brush was actually white and blue I had visions of my daughter looking at me on Christmas morning eyes downturned saying over and over "but I only like pink" but as it was a little late to get a replacement it went in.

Christmas morning arrived, the stocking was opened and her favourite bits brought in to me to show off which thankfully included the hsm tooth brush. After opening the big presents downstairs the first thing she asked before even turning the pink ds on was "can I brush my teeth now", result indeed and still no complaints about it being blue.

Once it was opened myself, sons and daughter were all in the bathroom excited at the prospect of this new fangled brush. We took it in turns to switch it on and press it against our hands and there was an almost inaudible tune which appeared to come from the brush.

We were a little skeptical about whether it was going to work any better inside your mouth but my daughter then added a little toothpaste, pressed the on button (little sound) and then began to brush her teeth, immediately she started nodding her head up and down and the hips began to sway and no amount of persuasion from the boys wanting a go got it out of her mouth until she had her full two minutes. If its possible to smile while brushing your teeth then she was certainly doing a good impression of it.

That evening instead of trying to avoid brushing or claiming she had already done it she was more than happy to waltz off into the bathroom and bop along to one of her favourite high school musical tunes.

I will admit that curiousity got the better of me and after catching the boys not using it but putting it up against a single tooth and moving it gently I had to have a go to. The tune is surprisingly loud and reasonably clear and it really does feel like it appears in your head from inside your mouth. You can even vary the volume by how hard you press although this may result in the tune going slightly off. It would definitely keep a child brushing for longer than normal.

It is recommended for children over seven but my daughter has no problems using it.

Pros

Makes kids more likely to brush their teeth
Makes the two minute recommended brushing time easier to gauge
Lots of different tunes available
Dentist recommended
Easy to use even for a four year old

Cons

At £7.99 it's a lot more expensive than an average manual toothbrush
The batteries for the music are non replaceable
The brush head is not replaceable.

- - Would I buy another one - -

This was a very well received present and I think any child getting this as a gift for Christmas or birthdays would be surprisingly thankful considering it's a toothbrush, however I wouldn't purchase it again unless it was at least 50% cheaper or it was possible to replace the batteries and head.

Summary: One of the few times you'll give a child a new toothbrush and they'll kiss you