Fluoride or no fluoride in their toothpaste, firm or soft bristles, manual or electric toothbrush — turns out there’s a weirdly large number of decisions to make when considering your kids’ dental hygiene. Personally, I was told at one point that electric toothbrushes can be too harsh and cause receding gums and to steer clear. So when I came across a Pikachu electric toothbrush I knew my son would love, I wondered, do dentists recommend electric toothbrushes for kids? Don’t worry, I asked the internet’s favorite pediatric dentist for his take.
Do dentists recommend electric toothbrushes for kids?
Kids 3 and younger shouldn’t use electric toothbrushes, says Dr. Anthony Baroud, the dentist behind the popular Dental Digest and Dr. Brushy YouTube channels for kids. For anyone older, he’s a fan of electric toothbrushes, but they’re not necessarily superior to traditional ones.
“I love electric toothbrushes, but it needs to be designed for the right individual,” he says. “At the end of the day, you can clean your teeth fantastic with a manual toothbrush with the proper brushing technique — angling the bristles to clean the gum line along the teeth, and also brushing in small gentle circles in each quadrant for about 30 seconds for a cumulative total brushing time of two minutes. That’s more important than brushing with an electric over a manual.”
When using an electric toothbrush, Baroud says you can skip the small circles and let the vibrations or oscillations do most of that plaque-fighting work for you. So if your child struggles with brushing thoroughly, an electric brush may help. Electric toothbrushes have one other added benefit: they’re really good at sudsing up the toothpaste and pushing it deeper in between the teeth, Baroud says.
You should also steer clear of brushes with firm bristles, no matter your age. “You would think firm bristles may lead to a stronger toothbrush that can last longer and can clean more deeply. And that’s actually incorrect,” Baroud says. “A firm bristle is going to be more abrasive and going to scratch your gums and can wear down your teeth faster. Soft bristles are more than enough to gently sweep and clean the plaque off your teeth.”
The ideal toothbrush (and toothpaste) for your kid is whatever kind they are excited to use, he says. His main goal, and the goal of every pediatric dentist, is to prevent cavities in kids. American children miss an average of more than 34 million school hours each year because of acute or unplanned dental care, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Kids with cavities do miss more days of school, Baroud agrees, adding that untreated cavities can also lead to infections, including ones that impact the growth and development of the adult tooth underneath.
“It may be worth that extra dollar or two to buy that fun electric toothbrush or that fun manual toothbrush, Baroud says. “The best toothbrush is the one that they’re going to grab.”
