Table of Contents
There is no doubt that children should be taught to brush their teeth as soon as possible. Products such as the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush are a perfect means of encouraging this. The sooner the brushing of teeth can become a routine for your children, the better. It is very important to maintain dental health and dental hygiene from a very early age.
One of the challenges with electric toothbrushes today is the fact they offer everything from pressure sensors to mobile phone apps. When it comes to children using electric toothbrushes there is no need for the additional extras. Keep it basic and focused on brushing your teeth. This is why electric toothbrushes such as the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush are proving very popular.
What to expect when opening the box
When you’re child’s Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush arrives they will be no doubt be excited. As soon as they open the box they will be presented with their new gift:-
- 1 x Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush
- 1 x Sensitive brush head
- 1 x Charging station
- 1 x Tutorial card
- Instructions
You will notice that the toothbrush itself is colourful and vibrant, as is the instruction card. We all know it can be difficult to maintain the attention span of a child, therefore bright colours and images are useful. So, now you have received the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush what can you expect for your child’s dental health and dental hygiene?
How good is this toothbrush at removing plaque?
Despite the fact this is a relatively inexpensive electric toothbrush, as far as electric toothbrush products go, it has a lot to offer. It incorporates the Oral-B 3D technology brush head movement with the bristles positioned at different angles. This ensures that as much plaque and excess food as possible is removed from each of your child’s teeth.
The Oral-B 3D technology relates to the way in which the toothbrush head oscillates rotates and pulsates to both loosen and remove plaque/excess food. Research shows that an electric toothbrush is able to remove double the amount of plaque compared to a manual toothbrush. In reality, if you let your manual toothbrush wear down to the barebones, this figure could be even higher.
Interestingly, as you would expect with a child’s product, the bristles are extra soft so as to be gentle on teeth and gums. As we will cover later in this article, it is just as important to maintain the health of your gums as it is your dental health.
Teaching your child to use the right pressure
When switching from a manual toothbrush to an electric toothbrush, there is a significant reduction in the pressure required. As we touched on above, the bristles for the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush are extra soft which ensures no damage to teeth and gums. However, it is important to teach your child the right pressure when using their electric toothbrush.
Electric toothbrushes for older children and adults will often incorporate a pressure sensor, although this is not the case with this particular model. The idea behind this is common sense, to keep the electric toothbrush simple and allow your child to focus on brushing. They will quickly become aware of the reduced pressure required and appreciate the improved cleanliness of their teeth. This is not an excuse to eat more sweets!
The instruction card which comes with the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush is comprehensive and explains the need to be careful and reduce pressure when brushing your teeth. Some people disagree, but perhaps it is better to teach your children to gauge the reduced pressure rather than relying upon a pressure sensor alert?
Position detection
While there is no position detection as such, as soon as you start using the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush, this will activate the two-minute timer. As we have mentioned in numerous reviews, this is the recognised duration when brushing your teeth. Each 30 seconds the electric toothbrush motor will pause slightly, prompting your child to move onto the next quadrant.
These signals will occur at 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds and after two minutes there will be three pauses in the motor to indicate it is time to switch off your toothbrush. It is important that you are by the side of your child when they begin to use their electric toothbrush. There are obviously a couple of issues they need to be aware of, such as reduced pressure and the timing system.
Due to the relatively thin design of the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush, especially the toothbrush head section, your child will be able to reach all nooks and crannies of their mouth. This ensures that all of their teeth are being cleaned; plaque is being removed as well as excess food.
This is exactly the same for adults, due to the design of the traditional manual toothbrush; it is difficult if not impossible to get right to the back of your mouth. As a consequence, there will be numerous teeth covered with plaque and potentially exposed to damage and decay.
One brushing mode
Due in the main to the price of the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush, as well as the fact it is designed for children, there is only one brushing mode. This removes any complications and because the bristles are extra soft, the toothbrush will not damage teeth or gums. It is vitally important to protect child’s teeth and gums, especially in their early years.
Once your child picks up there Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush they will feel a real difference to a manual toothbrush. The key to improving your child’s dental health and dental hygiene is to make the experience exciting. Research shows that if your child does not see the brushing their teeth as second nature in their early years, they may have dental difficulties in later years.
So, keep it simple, keep it effective and ensure that you are there to guide your children when they first use the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush.
Recharging the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush
Like many electric toothbrushes, the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush will take around 22 hours for a full charge. Their full charge should give you seven days of use, with your child brushing their teeth twice a day, although many people experience a longer duration. This has been flagged as a negative by some review sites, although it is not necessarily a huge problem.
When the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush is starting to run low on battery power, a red light will flash. As soon as you place the toothbrush on the charger, a green light will flash, indicating it is charging. Many people choose to leave their Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush on charge overnight for use in the morning. It is safe to do so if you prefer this method.
Replacement brush heads
While many of the Oral-B electric toothbrushes have interchangeable brushing heads, it is important that you only use toothbrush heads for children. As we touched on above, these brush heads have extra soft bristles, which reduce the potential to damage your child’s teeth or gums. The fact that the bristles are extra soft ensures they are okay to use to maintain and improve gum care.
The official guidance suggests that each toothbrush head should last around three months. However, as the toothbrush head begins to wear down you will see the distinctive blue colouring begin to fade. This is a deliberate means of measuring wear and tear on the toothbrush head and to alert you it is time to change.
This is a method we have seen in many of the so-called cheaper electric toothbrushes. Those towards the higher end of the electric toothbrush market tend to have an inbuilt sensor, which will alert you to general wear and tear. However, in reality as long as you check the toothbrush heads on a regular basis, the fading of the blue colour is more than enough. Ingenious!
Improving your dental health and dental hygiene
It is important to clarify that the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush is aimed at children over six years of age, and is therefore relatively easy to use. There are no gadgets, no mobile phone apps and no excessive flashing lights. The idea is simple, return the focus to the brushing of their teeth. The improvement in results over a manual toothbrush will be instantly visible!
At under £50, there is no doubt that the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush is a fairly basic electric toothbrush. That said, the more distractions and the more confusion for young children, the less they will focus on brushing their teeth. It is imperative that your child’s teeth are brushed two times a day – we should also do this in adulthood – to maintain long-term dental health.
The brightly coloured toothbrush body, soothing feeling as you brush your teeth and the eye-catching instruction guide should encourage your child. As ever, we would welcome any feedback you have regarding the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush.
Extremely positive feedback
Interestingly, some review sites have been a little negative (perhaps a little harsh) regarding the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush. We all have different expectations, different perceptions of value for money and as a consequence different views. In many ways the proof is in the pudding, 10,000 client ratings with an average of 4.7 out of five.
It is easy for us to sit back and wax lyrical about the pros and cons of the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush but customer feedback, especially this amount, speaks volumes. As you will see from the Amazon link, the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush comes in two different colours and you can also purchase a double pack.
All in all, the Oral-B Junior Kids Electric Toothbrush is an impressive piece of kit. It may not have the all singing all dancing mobile phone app, flashing lights and audio alarms, but it has more than enough to improve your child’s dental health. At the end of the day, that is why you buy an electric toothbrush for your child, not for the gadgets.
