The Oral-B Vitality Sonic Toothbrush

If you've shopped for a toothbrush in the last several months (if not, you need to get your disgusting self to the store immediately), than you most likely have noticed a few new 'innovations' in the dental world; one of those being the Vitality™ Sonic Toothbrush by Oral-B®. As you search the shelves, you find that the current $18 to $20 price of the Vitality™ Sonic seems to be a great deal compared to the other brands selling sonic brush systems that go for $40, $80, and even over $100. Delighted, you bring the toothbrush to the cashier (maybe even with a coupon in hand) and make your purchase.

After the over-night charge, you are eager to try your new gadget in the morning. It becomes apparent immediately that 'sonic' isn't the word to describe this toothbrush. What's worse, when it's time to replace the head, you find that for a single replacement brush (not a dual-pack as most other brands) you will need to pay currently $8 to $10. Is your chin on the floor yet?

While the Vitality™ Sonic gives more impressive results than a manual toothbrush, it performs no better than a standard $5 vibrating toothbrush. A much-cheaper vibrating toothbrush will also offer replacement heads for considerably less. The only saving grace to the Vitality™ Sonic is the simple re-charger that initially comes with the toothbrush. I have not had the brush long enough to give a good review on how long the battery lasts over-all after numerous charges, but I suspect that it will most likely perform as well as a one that contains non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. The battery needs to be re-charged after a couple of day's worth of uses, meaning that the plug-in re-charger will need to be taken with you if you travel. The brush itself contains no settings, other than an 'on/off' button.

My suggestion, if you want something more than a manual toothbrush, the best value for your money is a battery-operated vibrating toothbrush from Oral-B® or Crest®, that is either disposable or makes available cheap replacement heads. If you feel you must have a sonic-powered toothbrush (and have enough money to spend on the system and replacement brushes), than you need to invest in a more-expensive actual patented sonic system such as one from Sonicare™.

While I cannot offer any scientific evidence that the Oral-B® Vitality™ Sonic brush is not performing as 'sonically' as claimed; just by general use, I can tell you that it is not worth your hard-earned money. Once Proctor & Gamble (makers of Oral-B®) decide to change the name of the brush, mark it down to $5, and place it with the other electrical vibrating toothbrushes; I will highly recommend it. Until then, happy brushing!