The best smart electric toothbrushes for 2024 Buying Guide

From mattresses to scales, it’s commonplace now for even the most basic products to be app-connected. Electric toothbrushes are one of the more curious entries in the “smart” device space. But, smart or not, toothbrushes serve one purpose: cleaning your teeth. The American Dental Association says the use of both electric toothbrushes and manual models will lead to good oral health, as long as you are in the habit of brushing twice a day, for two minutes each, with a soft-bristled brush and fluoride toothpaste.

People who find it easy to hit those marks can probably save themselves the money, but others might benefit from the encouragement provided by advanced brushes. We wanted to test out some of these fancy electric toothbrushes to see just how useful their smarts are. After testing multiple brushes for a few weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that they aren’t a necessity for everyone’s oral care, but they could benefit certain folks — particularly those who respond to the gamification of their daily habits.

What to look for in a smart electric toothbrush

Apps

For our purposes, any brush that communicates with a companion smartphone app is one we consider “smart.” Nearly all such apps track your brushing duration and frequency, and can do so whether you have the app open or not. The apps present historical data in graphs, calendars and other easy-to-digest visualizations. Most apps also let you set goals, access tips on better habits and reorder brush heads directly from the manufacturer.

More advanced devices let you adjust the settings and modes within the app and also guide you through brushing sessions with real-time feedback on where the brush is in your mouth. Other apps grant real-life rewards, such as gift cards, for keeping up consistent habits. Teledentistry is even part of the Quip app’s repertoire.

Most people will probably get the most out of the visualization offered by the tracking and history features. I found it satisfying to see a long string of properly executed morning and night brushing sessions, like I had hit some sort of personal milestone. The apps also make it easy to auto-ship brush heads, which could help ensure you replace them more regularly. The ADA recommends getting new bristles every three or four months and I, for one, am terrible at remembering to do that.

At first, I liked brushing along with the apps that were capable of visualizing my movements, but the novelty wore off after a week or so. Stopping to go find my phone just added another step, and I’d always end up sucked into the new notification abyss before I’d remember, oh yeah, I was going to brush my teeth. While the apps’ simple progress tracking is great, the added goals and awards lost their power to motivate me after a few weeks. Many of us are already setting countless objectives for ourselves; worrying about one more virtual award felt like homework for a class I didn’t have to take.

The timer feature is what ultimately helped me brush better. My impulse is to put down the brush after about 45 seconds, which is nowhere near the ideal time. To use that you don’t even need the app though, as all smart brushes include a timer in the brush itself.

Brush mechanics

Whether they’re round or rectangular, all the brush heads vibrate, producing tens of thousands of movements per minute. All the handles emit haptic shakes and pauses to tell you to move to another section of teeth and when your session is done. Most of these electric toothbrushes have batteries that last a few weeks on a charge, or in the case of the non-rechargeable Quip, a few months on a set of disposable cells.

Advanced brushes, usually ones that cost more than $200, also include internal sensors that can detect the orientation of the brush in your mouth as well as the movement and pressure you apply. The brushes use that info to warn you if you’re pushing too hard, moving too fast or missing certain areas, with feedback in the form of lights, vibrations or in-app communication. Some brushes even have tiny, built-in screens that can give you a lot of the same info as an app, such as mode selection, timer duration and simple session assessments, so you don’t have to keep your phone beside you.

Price

A manual toothbrush from your local CVS will run you $4; smart electric toothbrushes can cost between $50 and $400 — quite the price jump. Even the least expensive smart brush offers app-based data tracking, plus haptic feedback and sonic vibrations from the brush itself. More expensive versions incorporate features like specialized heads, LED screens and internal sensors such as gyroscopes — all of which push up the price.