Sonicare Sonicare HX 6511 Hydroclean

As my husband and I get older, the presents we buy each other become boring and functional. He asks for socks and books, I ask for a toothbrush and dinnerware! This is my latest present from my husband which I received back in May so I have had a good three months to try it out and only recently have I had to replace the head. A good toothbrush is a necessity and whether you prefer the manual regular brushes or electric ones, dental hygiene should be a priority. What prompted me to want this toothbrush (yes although it was a present, I made sure I pointed out exactly which one I wanted..) was its promises to remove plague using patented sonic technology. I have used electric toothbrushes for a number of years but the last one I had just did not seem to be attacking the plaque that was building up behind my front bottom teeth. I regularly go to the dentist and have my teeth cleaned professionally but after a few months the plague was back and embarrassingly it led to a slight spike in gum disease which manifested in bad breath. Goodness, the things I share with you! Since using this toothbrush I have noticed a significant improvement in the health of my teeth and the plaque is remaining at bay. On the whole, my mouth feels fresher and my teeth although not as pearly white as they used to be (too much red wine) look shiny and healthy.

COST

A toothbrush needs to be more than simply a tool to rub toothpaste around your teeth and gums. It needs to have some backbone, so when I was choosing a toothbrush I looked at the more premium models. This was one of the first models I came across and after reading the specification I decided that it met my requirements. I was bought it as a present but as I had chosen the model myself I was well aware of the price. For research purposes on looking on the internet today, you can buy the toothbrush for around £79.99 from various online stores, although Amazon has it reduced to £49.99. (I’d best not tell my husband this!)

THE TOOTH, THE WHOLE TOOTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH

The toothbrush is slim and in fact it is much slimmer than the old electric brush I used it have. It is really light with the handle being made from a combination of rubber and plastic making it really easy to grip. The toothbrush is waterproof although obviously the charger is not. I often brush my teeth in shower as I’m usually short of time on a morning so it is good that I can get all parts of the toothbrush wet. The charger that it comes with features a two pin plug so you will need to buy a standard UK converter to plug it into the mains. This is really common for all electric toothbrushes but it is really annoying.

The toothbrush comes with a single pro results brush head which has a larger bristled area than I am used to. The head is set on a slight angle and is quite rubbery so as the head oscillates there are less vibrations travelling down into your hand. The brush head is easy to fasten on to the brush head and all you need to do is line up the two parts so the front of the handle is facing the same way as the bristles and then brush down the head onto the metal shaft. There is a slight gap between the head and the handle and again this is to allow the head to move fully.

To charge the toothbrush you will need to place it onto the charging stand. The battery charge indicator will show the remaining battery life. It will show a solid green light at 20 – 100%, a flashing green light at 5-19% and at less than 5 percent after you brush you will be warned with three beeps and a flashing green light. The battery runs out really quickly, this really surprised me as my old one used to last about a week before needing to be charged. This one manages around half a week so to prevent me being caught short with no power I charge it up every two nights for at least 24 hours as this the amount of time it takes to reach full charge.

USING THE APPLIANCE AND THE SPECIAL FEATURES

To use the appliance you should squirt a small amount of toothpaste onto the head and then place the toothbrush against your teeth before turning it on. If you turn it on before entering your mouth then you will end up with toothpaste fired all over the bathroom. Once you have turned it on, apply light pressure but do not scrub and allow the brush head to get into all the awkward places and clean the teeth. The toothbrush has a quadpacer which is designed to assist you in brushing all your teeth equally. You should split your mouth into four sections and spend 30 seconds on each section, thus totalling 2 minutes. After two minutes the toothbrush will turn itself off but you can pause and stop before this time if you wish to. The quadtimer kicks in after 30 seconds and then 60 and 90. The toothbrush emits a beep and pauses so you know you can move on to the next section. Once I have completed my teeth cleaning, I use the toothbrush to scrub my tongue. I prefer to do this with it turned off as it makes my tongue tickle if it is turned on! If you have fillings, crowns or veneers then you can still use this toothbrush and even if you have braces you can also still use it although you will find that the brush heads wear out sooner.

The toothbrush comes set with the easy-start feature activated. This is a brilliant feature as the toothbrush intelligently increases the power over the first 14 brushings. Usually the first week of having a new brush head is quite painful as it is stiff and rigid. I was expecting to have bleeding as my teeth and gums adjusted to the new pressure but thanks to this feature I was gradually broken in and I experienced no bleeding as a result of my new brush. You can deactivate this and re set it by holding down the start button for two seconds. One beep will indicate you have turned the feature off and two beeps means you have turned it back on. Once you have had your 14 brushings you should not use the feature as your war on plaque needs to be cranked up.

MY PEARLY WHITES

I find this toothbrush really successful at keeping plaque at bay and I can feel it moving between my teeth and getting into the areas that a regular toothbrush cannot get. I feel like this is polishing my teeth rather than cleaning it as I afterwards when I run my tongue across my teeth they feel so slick and shiny. The brush is helpful with its added bonus features but by far the best feature is the quality of the head. It oscillates so fast that if I was to replicate the clean feeling I get with a regular toothbrush I would be there all day.

Since using this brush, plaque has not built up as quickly. I can still feel each individual tooth when I run my tongue around my mouth. I know I have bad plaque when all my teeth feel stuck together and joined up. I never want to be the person that people do not want to talk to because of bad breath so I am really pleased with this brush. In terms of noise, I am pleased to report that this brush is much quieter than my old one and only emits a dull whirring noise as opposed to a loud squealing sound like my old one.

After three months you will notice that the bristles fade in colour so when this happens you know you need to replace the head. I have recently performed this move and I bought a packet of 3 for £15.00 which I thought was quite a good price considering the initial cost of the handle.

In conclusion

I am really happy with this product, it cleans my teeth well, protecting and polishing at the same time. The only downside I have found other than it being quite an expensive model is that the battery does not last very long. You will definitely have to find somewhere you can change this up regularly as it runs out quite often.