Grace Walsh
If you're new to electric toothbrushes or looking to upgrade your manual brush, one of the best Oral-B electric toothbrushes is a great place to start. While there are lots of great brands out there, you'll want to make sure you're buying a top-quality product to keep your teeth and gums healthy.
With so many brands on the market, it can be tricky to know which is worth spending your money on. Oral-B is one of the market leaders and it's a brand recommended by dentists because it offers a range of electric toothbrushes with different features varying in price from £30 to £500.
For beginners, a basic Oral-B toothbrush like the Vitality Plus Cross Action Electric Toothbrush is a great place to start. For those passionate about their dental health, a high-tech Oral-B toothbrush such as the iO Series 9 could be worth the investment. If you to shop with Oral-B, our guide to the best will help you choose the right product for you. For other recommendations, see our general guide on the best electric toothbrushes.
The best Oral B electric toothbrush, as tested by us
Promising 100% healthier gums and plaque removal, the Oral-B Pro 3 3000 is a great option for those with a mid-range budget looking for a more advanced toothbrush than the Oral-B Vitality Plus Cross Action, but still with an affordable price tag. The Oral-B Pro 3 3000 has three modes, one for sensitive teeth, one for whitening, and one for daily cleaning. It also comes with a pressure indicator to tell you how hard you’re brushing, which is essential if you have sensitive gums.
Our tester found this re-chargeable toothbrush worked well on the whitening and daily clean modes (and effectively helped remove plaque stains, thanks to a combination of the oscillating brush head and using one of the best toothpaste), but it wasn't great for sensitive teeth. Even in the sensitive setting, the brush head seemed a little hard. However, this could be remedied by swapping it for a softer head. Oral-B also claims the battery life on the Pro 3 3000 can last up to two weeks, but our tester found it needed re-charging after five days of using it twice a day. It's worth keeping in mind if you're a keen traveller and in need of an electric toothbrush with a long battery life. While it's not the cheapest brush on the list - that's the Oral-B Vitality Plus Cross Action Electric Toothbrush - you get what you pay for, making this brush the best value for money.
As far as electric toothbrushes go, the Oral-B iO Series 10 is top quality. In fact, we rated it the best electric toothbrush overall in our tests. With a sleek-looking design and plenty of smart features, our tester enjoyed trialling this model the most. The iO Series 10 has an interactive display showing the different modes you can switch between during your brushing session. But, the user-friendly interface isn’t as imitating for technophobes, as you can simply swipe through the modes using the button under the small screen.
Grace Walsh, the tester for this brush, said, "I've been using the Oral-B iO Series 10 electric toothbrush for a few months and I'd find it very difficult to go back to using any other brush now. On a basic level, the brush feels premium to hold with a unique black-speckled design among the offerings. The brush is charged via a magnetic mount (connected to the wall power via a shaver socket or adaptor), which is nice and easy to clean - unlike the other, older charger models that I've found collect toothpaste residue and dust easily - although the brush can fall off it or become misplaced fairly easily, meaning it doesn't charge fully."
"One of the unique features on the iO10 that sets it apart is the app connectivity via Bluetooth. Using the app, I could see clearly which areas of my mouth have been thoroughly brushed and which areas I've missed out on each time, with trends and patterns available to see where I've slipped up. The same slip-ups were actually pointed out to me at my most recent dentist appointment, so it clearly works!"
"Other features I like about this premium brush include the full-colour LED display, which you can cycle through to choose which brushing program you want and easily see the timer counting down your two minutes, the light vibrations to signal 30-second intervals, and pressure sensor that flashes green when it's just right and red when you're brushing too hard. You can also charge the brush quickly for about 15 minutes and have enough power for one or two brushes, should you forget to charge your brush when it runs out of battery. The travel carry case is also useful to avoid anything touching your brush when you're on the move, setting it off in your suitcase."
"Naturally, the price is certainly something to consider. This brush originally retailed at around £800 and now sits at the £500 mark across most retailers, including Amazon. If you're looking to invest in an amazing-quality brush for the easiest cleaning of your life, go right ahead with this one. Otherwise, I'd say you can get many of the same features on the previous model - the Oral-B iO9 - for roughly half the price. Currently, the iO9 is on sale at Amazon for £218, down from £500, since it's no longer the newest model."
For a high-tech upgrade, let us introduce you to the Oral-B Genius X. It features six cleaning modes, gum pressure control, and a 30-second pacer. All of the modes can be seen on the brush handle, which is round with no rough or square edges, making it easy to hold.
Even in normal brushing mode, we found the speed fast and pressure firm, allowing us to get right in between our teeth and gums, without causing them to bleed. The model also allows you to see the battery status information on the main panel of the brush, so you don't get caught short in-between cleans. You can pair the toothbrush with the Oral-B app to track your brushing and receive real-time feedback on how well you're doing. The only downside to the Oral-B Genius X was the battery didn’t seem to last quite as long as the two weeks stated on the packaging - still, its battery life is adequate enough that you could take it on a short-haul trip if needs be.
There’s no denying that this is an expensive toothbrush, even if it is electric and comes with all the bells and whistles that Braun and Oral-B could throw into one product. While it might feel difficult to justify spending £300 on an electric toothbrush at first, if you look at this purchase as an investment, and consider it from a cost-per-use perspective, over time the benefits that come with owning a top-of-the-range toothbrush start to outweigh the initial financial hit.
Rachael Martin, one of the testers for this guide, said, "I’ve owned my Oral-B Genius X Rose Gold Electric Toothbrush for over 5 years now, and when you consider how often you brush your teeth, I’ve got to be on my way to a 5p per use cost by now! When you look at it like that, 5p per use feels like a good deal for all of the benefits of the brush, especially as I have found that the Oral-B Genius X is still working and performing just as well as it did when I first got it, even 5 years later."
"The only thing I have to buy to keep using the Genius X is new toothbrush heads - but you need to do this regularly with all electric toothbrush products for hygiene reasons and to ensure the brush is still working effectively to clean your teeth. I think this longevity is a testament to the quality of this product and goes some way to justifying the high price tag. The main difference I have noticed between my toothbrush when I first got it and now is that after 5 years the battery life isn’t quite as good as it used to be, but I still only have to charge it once a week, which after so long and after so much use isn’t pretty good going."
"Other features that I like and have really used over the last 5 years with this brush are the Pressure Control alert that tells you when you are brushing too hard, the handy noise it makes to tell you when you’ve been brushing for long enough and the different brushing modes. There are 6 different brushing modes in total and although I don’t find myself using all of the modes all of the time, I have found myself flicking between the Pro-Clean and Tongue Cleaning settings daily and I’ve also made use of the Sensitive setting when I’ve got wisdom tooth pain and need a gentler clean for those teeth.
"The main feature of this brush that I haven’t really used over my 5 years of owning this product is the Bluetooth setting and the ability to link your electric toothbrush up to your phone. If you’re really interested to learn more about your brushing style or want to optimise how you are brushing your teeth every day to get the best results then this feature would definitely be of interest and of use to you, but for me, it’s more than what I want out of my electric toothbrush day-to-day."
At the time of writing, this toothbrush is on sale and is reduced to just £120 direct from Oral B. I think this is a great price for such a smart product that has fantastic longevity. In the box with the brush, you also get a charger and I got a travel case with my toothbrush that I have found so useful and used lots. I like this product enough that I would definitely buy it again - not that I need to as after 5 years my toothbrush doesn’t look anywhere near needing to be replaced!
With five different cleaning modes, the Oral-B SmartSeries 6000 means business and could be the best option for those looking to upgrade their first electric toothbrush. It features pressure control, Bluetooth technology, and two weeks' worth of battery. The design is sleek and it comes with three brush heads, a travel case, and a storage case for the brush heads, too.
The clock timer tells times how long you've been brushing your teeth and, via the Oral-B App, you can enable Smart Coaching for feedback on your brushing habits and how to improve them. Turn the toothbrush over, and the rear pressure sensor allows you to see how much force you’re using. If it flashes red, then you know that you need to use less pressure. Thanks to the battery icon, our tester could see how much usage was left before it would need recharging. They also rated the vibration warning that sounded when the recommended two-minute cycle was completed during every brush, however, this might be a downside for some as it is quite an intense vibration.
One of the most affordable electric toothbrushes in the Oral-B line-up, the Vitality Plus Cross Action is great for beginners. It comes with a basic charging stand and bonus brush head and costs under £25 ($30). Despite it being quite basic, it works to effectively clean teeth. A standout feature of this brush is the easy-to-grip handle that some of the other models lack, and the raised rubber that stops it from rolling around if you place it on a flat surface. While not as sleek as some of its pricier counterparts, this toothbrush is still a significant improvement over a manual brush and includes a two-minute timer to help you monitor your brushing time.
However, as this is a budget buy, don’t expect it to come with lots of battery life. Without a device light to monitor how much battery power our tester had left, they found the brush would unexpectedly run out of charge and cut out during brushing. It also only comes with one cleaning mode, so if you want something a bit more specialized, it would be wise to look at Oral-B’s more premium options.
I’ve been using the Oral-B Genius X toothbrush for 5 years now, so switching to the Oral-B iO4 to test the toothbrush for this guide felt like quite a big change, especially because the Oral-B iO4 felt much chunkier to hold and brush with than the Genius X.
There are similarities between the products - both brushes come with Oral-B’s Smart Pressure Sensor that helps prevent you from brushing either too hard or too softly. This is a feature I find particularly useful on my current toothbrush and was glad to have in the Oral-B iO4 too. I also liked the fact that on the Oral-B iO4, there are different lights for if you are brushing too softly or if you have the pressure just right too - the Genius X doesn’t have this additional sensor and lights and so I preferred this about the Oral-B iO4. There are also different brushing modes available with the Oral-B iO4, however, there are only 4 choices with this brush compared to the 6 brushing modes you get with the Genius X.
Like the Genius X, the Oral-B iO4 also comes with Bluetooth connectivity so that you can sync your brush to the Oral-B app. The app will give you a score for each toothbrushing session and it will also tell you how long to brush for and what the overall coverage of each tooth was like. For me, the use of the app every day and the Bluetooth feature is overkill, so I didn’t find myself using the app all that often and I missed the built-in notifications on the Genius X that alerts you when you’ve been brushing for long enough each time.
Something that the Oral-B iO4 Electric Toothbrush has that my other Oral-B electric toothbrush doesn’t is a handy feature in the form of a small orange light that turns on when it’s time to change the brush head. This handy reminder on the brush itself, rather than something that needs to be accessed via your phone, is really useful and ensures you stay on top of your brush replacements which in turn helps you to clean your teeth more effectively.
There’s still quite a high price point on this brush, even though it’s slightly cheaper than some of Oral-B’s other, more elaborate and technical electric toothbrushes. In my opinion, you can get better and more useful features from other brushes in Oral-B’s range that are at a similar price point. For example, I prefer the Oral-B Genius X to the Oral-B iO4 because of the 6 different brushing modes you get with the Genius X. At the moment, with both products on sale (at the time of writing the Oral-B iO4 can be purchased at Boots for £95), there is only a £25 price difference between the two brushes, and I think for this price the Genius X is the better choice because of all the extra features you get with it.
How we tested the best Oral-B electric toothbrush
If you’re ready to swap in your manual toothbrush for an electric one, here's what you should consider and what we took into account when assessing Oral-B electric toothbrushes:
- Features offered: Depending on your dental care needs, you might want an Oral-B toothbrush with all the bells and whistles, or a basic electric toothbrush might be all you need. We tested a range of models, all offering different features—from brushing timers to speed ranges. Some offered multiple cleaning modes, with modes for teeth whitening and sensitive teeth, while others only offered basic deep cleaning.
- Battery life: It's important your electric toothbrush has a long-lasting battery to avoid any mishaps (especially when travelling without a charger). A rechargeable electric toothbrush will usually need to be charged every two weeks, but some of the more affordable options need to be charged every couple of days.
- Value for money: If you're new to electric toothbrushes you may want an affordable option to assess how much you like using them before investing. We tested a variety of toothbrushes across a range of price points to bring you affordable and premium recommendations.
- Effectiveness: The benefit of an electric toothbrush is it can get hard-to-reach areas that a manual toothbrush may struggle with. Our tester considered how effective the Oral-B electric toothbrushes were in cleaning their teeth and gums. For the products offering more (such as gum pressure checks and teeth whitening modes), our tester assessed how well the model lived up to its claims.
Is an electric toothbrush better than a manual one?
“Electric toothbrushes are generally considered to be more effective at reducing plaque buildup, due to their ability to apply more brush strokes to your teeth,“ explains dentist Dr Kailesh Solanki. “However, manual toothbrushes can work well if you know how to brush your teeth correctly. When you're choosing a manual toothbrush, the first thing to consider is the size of the head. A smaller toothbrush head means you're more likely to be able to reach all of your teeth at the back, to brush them properly. It's not necessarily true that hard bristles will give a more thorough clean though. In fact, they're more likely to damage your tooth enamel and gums, so try to choose medium or soft bristles instead.“
Some people prefer an electric toothbrush to a manual one because it helps them create better dental hygiene habits. Most models come with a two-minute timer to ensure you're brushing your teeth for the dentist-recommended time. Plus, the high-tech Oral-B models connect to the brand's app and provide real-time feedback on how well you're brushing your teeth if you're applying the correct pressure and hitting the right spots. This can make a big difference to someone who has struggled to care for their teeth and gums correctly with a manual brush.
How often should you replace your toothbrush head?
“Remember to replace your manual toothbrush or electric toothbrush head every three months,” advises Dr Solanki. “But most importantly, ensure your brushing technique is correct, as no toothbrush will be effective if the technique is wrong.”
Most electric toothbrush brands, including Oral-B, offer toothbrush head refill packs so you can stock up on packs of four, six, or eight replacement brush heads for your specific toothbrush.
