Hasbro's Tooth Tunes Toothbrushes: Musical Toothbrushes that Encourage Better Brushing

While looking for stocking stuffers this past Christmas season, I drifted towards the bath & body section at my local Wal-Mart. I was expecting to find some products like loofahs and bubble bath to use as last-minute fillers for my loved ones. I spotted a bubble bath dispenser shaped like Lightning McQueen from Cars, and as I contemplated which relative would like this best, the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from the Disney movie The Lion King, started playing in the aisle. I looked over and saw that my husband had found a new play toy: musical toothbrushes! The melody was catchy, so I crossed the aisle to get a better look. What I found were Tooth Tunes toothbrushes, marketed by Hasbro and made by Tiger Electronics.

Tooth Tunes toothbrushes claim to "rock your teeth clean" while also encouraging good brushing techniques. At first all I saw were the Tooth Tunes Junior toothbrushes, specially designed for young brushers. They play 1 minute of music interspersed with encouraging phrases like "Keep brushing!" in between stanzas. I noticed that the Tooth Tunes Junior brushes came in varieties such as "Bare Necessities" from the Disney movie The Jungle Book and "Hakuna Makata" from the Disney movie The Lion King. There were also themes to popular cartoons like Transformers and Spiderman. At first I thought that this was a neat invention for children, but then I noticed another model: Turbo Tooth Tunes toothbrushes. The Turbo Tooth Tunes variety plays 2 minutes of music and comes with tunes fitting for adolescents, like Aly & AJ, Hilary Duff, Camp Rock, High School Musical, and of course Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana. In fact, there are even varieties of Turbo Tooth Tunes that are fitting for adults! I located Kiss, Queen, and Smashmouth toothbrushes, among others.

At Wal-Mart the Tooth Tunes brushes were only $5.00 each, not much more costly than a high-quality manual toothbrush. I thought I would take the gamble and try these toothbrushes out. Since it was right before Christmas, I bought Turbo Tooth Tunes for my husband, my sister-in-law, and myself. I also bought a Tooth Tunes Junior toothbrush for my cousin. He is six and has a difficult time knowing when to stop brushing. I figured that this way the music will tell him when his teeth are adequately cleaned.

I made a twenty dollar investment by purchasing these four Tooth Tunes toothbrushes. Was it worth it?

Cost

Like I said, I found the Tooth Tunes brushes at Wal-Mart for $5.00 each. Since my original discovery, I have seen the product at both Rite Aid and Alco for $9.99. I feel I got a bargain by purchasing the toothbrushes at Wal-Mart. You can also find the toothbrushes at the Tooth Tunes website, www.toothtunes.com. They sell on the website for $9.99, as well.

Trying Tooth Tunes Out

For myself I picked the "We Will Rock You" by Queen toothbrush. I wet the head, applied toothpaste, and began brushing. The Tooth Tunes packaging says that for the best possible sound, you need to "apply even pressure, and brush with slow, steady motion". That didn't sound hard at all; in fact, it sounds like how I normally brush my teeth. I began brushing and I could hear Queen playing-in my mouth! I thought, how fun! However, I quickly noticed that the sound was not loud enough for my liking. I brushed harder, but still, not loud enough. The only way that I could get the Tooth Tunes to play loudly enough was for me to hold the toothbrush in between my back molars and press down. This didn't feel safe to me at all; I was either going to crack my teeth or break the toothbrush. I continued to brush, but felt I had done an adequate job before the two minutes were up.

The Verdict

Hasbro's Tooth Tunes is truly a novel idea and was just what I needed to fill a few Christmas stockings. The $5.00 I paid at Wal-Mart was reasonable. Would I pay $9.99, the retail price suggested on the Tooth Tunes website? No. The novelty wore off way too quickly. Plus, I felt that in order to get the best possible sound, I was brushing my teeth awkwardly. I do a better job with an old-fashioned manual Reach toothbrush! But, if you are looking for a gag gift or something for a White Elephant style swap, this is it.

One thing that the Tooth Tunes toothbrush does do is encourage its user to turn off the water while brushing. To hear the music, you need the water turned off. Therefore you are unconsciously helping the environment.