SuperSonic

Julie has been asking for an electric toothbrush for ages, and I've always said no. Part of me just considered it frivolous, but I also worried that she would never learn to brush properly if she felt that the brush was doing all the work. Still, here she was asking for something to help her brush her teeth better....

Enter Mom Central to the rescue! They were looking for bloggers with kids in the 4–10 age range who would be willing to give the new Sonicare for Kids a whirl (literally). Of course I said yes, and Julie was very excited when the package came. 

When you turn it on, the Sonicare goes for 2 minutes, which is the recommended time that kids are supposed to brush. But there's a really cool feature that I think is ingenious: Every 30 seconds, it plays a musical tone, which is a reminder to switch mouth sections. That is, you start with the outer surfaces of the upper teeth, then move on to the inner surfaces, then the outer lowers, and finally the inner lowers (or whatever order you choose). I think this is a great idea, because now I know that Julie is giving all her teeth sufficient attention. After the first time, she said, "30 seconds is longer than I thought!" which makes me think that she hadn't been brushing for long enough up till now. She is still getting used to keeping the brush in place on her teeth, because the vibrating is a new sensation for her.

A couples of years ago, when I realized that the kids had a hard time remembering to brush their teeth in the morning (and I wasn't doing too well reminding them either), I had the brilliant idea to put toothbrushes and toothpaste in the downstairs bathroom too, and that helps me remember to remind them to brush before we leave the house—and they don't have to go "all the way back upstairs." So I've decided that in the mornings, Julie will still use her old-fashioned muscle-powered toothbrush so that she doesn't "forget" how to brush properly on her own. And I'm hoping that using the Sonicare every night will help her brush each section longer in the morning, even without the musical tone to remind her!

Oh, and not for nothing, but it comes with interchangeable face-plates so Julie can change the look whenever she pleases. Which is a lot.

Check out the Sonicare for Kids website for more information (for instance, there's a smaller brush-head and shorter setting for younger kids). You can buy the Sonicare for Kids at Amazon.com, Target, or Wal-Mart.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign
by Mom Central on behalf of Sonicare and received
a free Sonicare For Kids toothbrush to facilitate my review.

Comments

[Margie]

Ok Karen, I'm with Julie. Having an electric toothbrush PLUS obsessive 2x daily flossing reversed my moderate to heavy gum disease. And I believe it had more to do with the toothbrush. When I go away, I use a battery operated tb. No comparison to old fashioned. Going to the dentist is no longer a painful bloodletting session.

[Kim Buckton]

Electric toothbrushes are great. We all (ages 4 - 40s) use them. The kids do use a manual brush downstairs in the morning but my husband and I prefer the electric one and go all the way back upstairs to brush with that one. It feels so much cleaner and what a difference it makes at the dentist's office. Julie will never go back!