A pounds 3 TOOTHBRUSH PASTES pounds 150 RIVAL

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Nov 25, 2007 | by STEPHEN HAYWARD Consumer Correspondent

FANCY pounds 150 electric toothbrushes are no better than models costing just pounds 3.

Consumer tests on best-selling electric brushes found the cheapest model performed just as well as one selling for FIFTY times more.

And the study found that the way you clean your teeth is just as important as the brush you use - with ordinary manual versions proving just as effective if used properly.

The 17 electric bestsellers were given marks for how well they brushed, their ease of use and battery life.

While the best three cost pounds 100 or more, number four in the list cost only pounds 22 - and a pounds 3 brush from Colgate did as well as the most expensive on test, the pounds 150 Philips Sonicare Flexcare.

The Colgate Micro Sonic Power received a 60 per cent rating, the same as the Philips. Each got top marks for brushing, but the Philips was let down on battery power.

The brush which performed best was Oral B's Triumph 9900 (pounds 140, plus pounds 5 for replacement heads), which scored 82 per cent.

Another Oral B, the Triumph 9500 (pounds 110, heads pounds 5) came second with 80pc, and Philips' Sonicare Elite e9500 (pounds 100, heads pounds 15) came third with 76pc.

The worst two brushes were made by Tesco. They cost just pounds 4 each but they clean less effectively than the others and have a poor battery life. Both scored under 40 per cent.

A spokesman for Which?, who carried out the test, said: "Advanced technology isn't the only route to clean teeth.

"The advantages of an electric toothbrush are that children enjoy using them more and they require less effort, making them good for the old and frail. But a manual brush will work perfectly well as brushing is more about technique than the brush itself."

stephen.hayward@mgn.co.uk