Will a £130 electric toothbrush give you a whiter smile?

So long as you’re brushing twice a day, you’re keeping your teeth in tip-top shape, right? Sure. According to the NHS, brushing twice a day for two minutes each time with a fluoride toothpaste should be enough to prevent gum disease and tooth decay. And while a manual brush is fine, how about a sonic brush that oscillates 31,000 times a minute? That’s the spec of this top toothbrush from market leader, Philips.

When tested against manual toothbrushes, a review of studies has shown that electric toothbrushes are more effective at removing the plaque that causes poor dental hygiene. Those fitted with a timer help you reach that two-minute goal and electric toothbrush users tend to concentrate better on cleaning all areas of their mouth. With this titan of tooth care and its supercharged oscillations, you get the equivalent of a dental deep clean every day – with up to 10 times more plaque removed when compared with a manual.

The DiamondClean 9000 has four modes:

1. Clean for exceptional everyday cleaning

2. Gum Health for a gentle yet effective clean

3. White+ to brighten your smile

4. Deep Clean+ for an invigorating deep clean

It also comes with three intensity settings so you can customise your routine and the smart brush head makes the device vibrations change if you use too much pressure (gotta look after those gums). Not only that, but this toothbrush is Bluetooth-enabled, so you can connect it to your phone to get real-time feedback on how well you’re caring for your teeth and guidance on how to do better. The app also makes monitoring the age of your brush head and reordering new ones a breeze. 

Oh, and this brush can last 14 days on a full charge and comes with a travel case so you don’t need to leave it behind when you vaycay. No need for a back-up manual brush, hoorah.

The DiamondClean 9000 promises to give you whiter teeth in just three days when used with a whitening toothpaste. While I didn’t see quite such speedy results, there’s no doubt it has made short work of any tea or red wine stains on my teeth over Christmas. 

When you compare it to the couple of pounds you could spend on a manual toothbrush, this does feel like a weighty investment, but considering it’s a lifestyle gadget you use twice every single day, its cost-per-use isn’t so outrageous. I’ve been an electric toothbrush devotee for years, but sonic technology does give a next-level clean experience. I’m much more disciplined at completing a full two-minute brush morning and evening and one particularly tricky stain is no more. Plus, I’m more thrilled than I probably should be about the hard travel case, which means I no longer fear my suitcase buzzing all the way through the airport from an accidental switch-on.