My wife bought new toothbrush heads on her way home from work today.
They didn’t fit. She bought the “Oral B IO” heads, but we have a “regular” Oral B toothbrush, not the Shiny Fancy IO design.
And this is after she bought replacement heads last week at another store – which turned out to be “compatible for” a different brand :(
Ugh.
This sort of thing winds me right up. I’ve been burned too many times before on things like it to the point that if something is not absolutely essential to my existence I will not buy your thing if it needs replacement parts eventually.
Congratulations, people who create proprietary parts to ensure brand loyalty, you played yourselves.
IO is the expensive line isnt it? it isnt worth it to get those. get 1000-1500 series, the heads the off brand ones are relatively cheap on amazon. i got the german replacement heads for the 1000, 10 for under 20, these are official replacement for the EU version, it still works on the american ones.
dont buy replacement heads in store, oral b gouges people with it. its pratically the printers inks of the brush industry.
I bought extra heads when I bought the toothbrush because they always stop making them and forcing me to replace it… Instead the charging dock thing was completely corroded and there’s no way to charge the actual toothbrush anymore… I miss the replaceable battery ones at this point
did you buy the cheaper version, they go bad pretty fast.
You’d think so based on how quickly it died, but it was a $70 USD (on 50% discount) “Colgate Electric Toothbrush Series 2”. Only lasted 12 months. And no I didn’t get it wet, but it does live in the bathroom (like all toothbrushes).
Now I kinda wish I’d done that! I really miss the old electric toothbrush I had back in the mid-2000s. It had a nice little caddy for toothbrush heads between uses. Sadly, that one left the house with my ex, so I had to buy a new one.
And then another new one.
And yet ANOTHER new one.
But I’m not sure if I’m at 3 or 4 cycles since then. I had purchased a Phillips model that crapped out absurdly quickly (but still outside the warranty window, of course).
Guh, toothbrush purchases ought to be something boring, not something you have to carefully research and compare parts list numbers!
That’s every purchase in 2026 unfortunately. If you just buy something carelessly it’ll be bad and not work
:/It just kills me a little inside that it’s easier to get parts for my car than it is to get the right replacement toothbrush heads!
I specifically made sure there are cheap alternatives to the original heads before I bought my tooth brush. Many companies didn’t enshittify because they were shit from the beginning.
Ooh, good idea
Many companies didn’t enshittify because they were shit from the beginning.
Clever, I like this.
I “solved” this problem by losing my original OralB (non-IO) and being forced to replace it with an OralB IO, then finding my original OralB. I keep one in the upstairs bathroom and one in the downstairs, and now I can use either type, lol!
Oof, that could be a post entirely on its own!
You know what never has this problem? Good old fashioned tooth brushes that you can get in a 6 pack for like $8.
Electric toothbrushes are genuinely better for toothbrushing, though.
Yeah, one of the few electrified versions of traditional products that genuinely has a good reason to be electrified. There’s a lot of evidence showing they’re way better at cleaning your teeth than a regular toothbrush.
Anecdotally, after using an electric tooth brush, using a “normal” toothbrush leaves my teeth feeling fuzzy not matter how well I brush.
Also, it used to be that my teeth would feel super clean and smooth after the dentist. I barely notice the difference anymore because my electric toothbrush does such a good job.
are you putting alot of pressure on it, you get use to it after a few uses. i felt wierd after using sonic for the ifrst time, but after a few uses your gums and teeth desensitizes to it. unless you are somehow trying to brush your gums.
I barely notice the difference between my hygienist and my manual toothbrush
Not really that much difference if you brush correctly
actually there is a huge difference, studies shown that electric both sonic and rotating heads are superior to manual brushing. and plus people brush too hard with manual ones, the electric ones have sensors for pressure, often time they dont brush long enough as well with manul ones.
Or have Parkinson’s.
Never ever had a dentist recommend an electric toothbrush to me. Why is that? 🤷♂️
my most recent one did, but my dentist from another provider dint 10+years ago, i had really bad teeth because manuals just dont clean as well.
Are we sure it wasn’t due to technique though?
I genuinely don’t know, because every dentist I’ve ever had has recommended electric. There are studies as well. I’m not trying to say your teeth aren’t immaculate because I don’t know you, but for the average person electric toothbrushes are better, sincerely.
This is def the case for me. I used to bring the old fashioned toothbrushes for camping (well, for any travel). I noticed a HUGE difference when I’d get home again.
Now I just bring the normal toothbrush. The battery lasts long enough for most trips that it’s fine.
For camping, as you have the iO heads already, get a iO series 2 body as they use the older motor but new heads and the battery lasts about 20 days. Way longer than other iO series bodies. It’s not as good as those either but for camping, meh.
Also, you can buy USB-plugged oral B chargers. Useful for travel
I believe you, but I’m also interested in the studies, how much worth it it actually is.
Like, is it worth it because people in general have poor brushing technique and the electric brush “solves” this just by how it works, or is it better even with proper brushing technique with manual brush?
Those are some of the questions I have. 😁
Here’s just one of said studies. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3652371/
From that study:
A randomized double-blind clinical trial was conducted
LOL! I do not think that means what they thought it means. Kinda hard to keep the participants from knowing which study group they’re in.
Still, interesting setup. 60 dental students makes sure that the control group brushing manually is doing so with proper technique. They were getting the best-case scenario for manual brushing.
Can it not still be double blind if the participants don’t know precisely what is being measured or studied? For example, perhaps they know they are involved in a toothbrush study, but not that one group will have different brushes, or precisely what measurements are being taken.
Because you have a shit dentist. I’ve had them recommended to me by my dentist for at least 25 years.
See my other comment. It’s not just one.
Maybe you have problems that a change of toothbrush ain’t gonna fix.
Excuse me? Can you elaborate on this comment? Because it sounds to me like you are actually resorting to ad hominems right now, in a calm and non-polarized discussion about toothbrushes.
Please tell me I’ve misunderstood.
Oh gosh no, not doing that at all. I was just suggesting that maybe you’re not getting recommended to use an electric toothbrush because you might have other teeth issues that may not be fixed by an electric toothbrush (like weak enamel or damaged teeth), or won’t benefit from it at least.
Shitty dentist 🤷♂️
There’s been plenty. Dentists, dental hygienists, it’s been almost 4 decades and no-one has recommended it, so I don’t think it’s that. They have, however, shown me how I should use a normal, manual toothbrush most effectively, and I’ve followed that advice to success. Haven’t had a cavity since my first cavity as a teenager, it’s been over 20 years since then.
Are y’all based in America? I bet dentists there are paid to endorse the electric toothbrush industry there. But maybe not.
Maybe there are scientific studies that show that electric toothbrushes are objectively better for dental and oral health? If so, I’d love to see them and maybe I’ll consider getting one.
For now, I’m just sick of having yet another thing that has a damn battery that needs to be charged god-damnit.
Probably an American thing, many of the dentists I’ve had tried to sell me an electric toothbrush. I claim I already have one (which I do, I just prefer not to use it).
they never sell, but they always reccommend it buying it online or in store, they arnt financially benfitting from it, at leas the most recent ones. dentist will know if your manual brushing isnt sufficient enough, despite you using a proper technique.
The dentists my insurance will cover are the national chains, and they are always trying to tack on an extra $85 for whatever brand electric toothbrush they’re peddling. They’ll even say I’m doing fine with brushing, but still recommend it, and have the receptionist ask while I’m scheduling my next cleaning.
Never had a dentist try to sell me a toothbrush. In fact, I get given a manual one every time I leave. Which I use for cleaning around the taps in the bathroom. But they are always glad I’m using an electric brush. My kids (both under 10) use them too, after they learnt how to do it manually properly (just in case).
Not American btw.
Could you share a bit about why you prefer not to use it? 🙏
I find I brush more thouroughly with a manual brush and spend more time than when using a powered one. I think it’s probably more a “what I’m used to” situation where the electric brushes are a bit overstimulating and I forget to keep them charged.
Are y’all based in America? I bet dentists there are paid to endorse…
It’s a little frightening how plausible this is. And yes, I’m American.
😅 I know right. I don’t want to bet a fortune on it, willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but I’d still put a little bit on it. 🫣
No bet.
Very cool story about his you choose to code in PHP because it’s totally as good as everything else if you know what your doing 🙄
Hey, I actually liked PHP back when I was working in it.
People have lots of criticisms for it, and – yes, they’re all true. I still enjoyed working in the language back in the day.
Sorry, what?
He said that the toothbrush should be developed in C++, which it probably is already.
You mean the acoustic ones?
No the analog ones
I really prefer solid state these days
Tube toothbrushes is where it’s at yo
And they are shit. Jesus Christ what a stupid thing to say.
Hey, be nice. Maybe Trebs was a little snarky, but I don’t think you need to go straight to the jugular.
I found some toothbrushes that are really pretty good. I’m travelling with one now. It’s smaller than an electric one, cleans my teeth very well and I don’t have to cart around a charger.
After this, switching back to the dinosaur type is tempting for sure!
You know what never has this problem? Basically literacy skills, 6 pack for like $10
Did you mean “basic?”
I did, so this was an ironic autocorrect, given the subject.
I do stand by the fact that reading would solve the problem - iO brushes literally have a massive iO on the packaging, so there should be absolutely no reason to buy the wrong ones, and they aren’t that expensive either if you buy in bulk from somewhere like Amazon.
Plus, if we’re talking toothbrushes, electric ones are much better for their consistent cleaning abilities compared to manual ones and every dentist will agree - they can tell instantly what you use as soon as they check your teeth. What is more expensive is dental care required due to improper oral hygiene, so spending a bit more on a decent toothbrush is cheaper in the long run.
I did this once after getting these toothbrushes for my kids. Of course we didn’t figure it out before opening the package. Thankfully I found someone in the school community who could use them. Sorry it happened to you, too!
Thanks. Hopefully we can pass these on to someone who can actually use them.
