If you’ve been reading our work for a bit, you have probably come across our 2 part series that explores the question, “Are electric toothbrushes or manual toothbrushes better?“.
And while we still love our not-fancy-but-effective Bass toothbrushes, if you find that you just don’t have the time to manually get your teeth as clean as you’d like or have some physical challenge that compromises your manual dexterity, we may have found the solution for you…
Our embarrassing personal introduction to this electric brush…
Last year, a company reached out to us saying, “Hey, we see that you educate the public about the Bass Brushing Technique. Would you like to try out our electric toothbrush that uses the Bass Technique?”
It sounded good at first, then my ‘judgment alert’ rang loudly.
The name of the toothbrush: 30 Second Smile.
“Ugg”, I thought, “The recommended 2 minutes for brushing is already such a short amount of time. Now there’s a company that suggests that we can get our teeth clean in 30 seconds???”
I mean, after all, we’ve written an article arguing that 2 minutes isn’t enough time to get your teeth clean.
One member of our family was willing to give it a try, so we accepted the gift.
It came and sat on my desk for weeks as I silently judged the preposterousness of getting your teeth clean in 30 seconds.
Until, of course, the family member was willing to use the brush. She found that she not only liked it, but she felt it got her teeth cleaner than she was able to achieve using the manual Bass brush! That was when the humble pie began to hit me in the face.
It was at that point that I decided to take a closer look and formed as unbiased a view as I could of this electric toothbrush.
(Full disclosure, parents, the axiom ‘you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’ definitely applies when it comes to children and brushing teeth. We can model good habits, encourage, cajole, demand, beg, whatever. But ultimately, it’s our children’s choice whether they want to walk the path to taking responsibility for their oral health.)
Impressive clinical study results…
In one clinical study, the 30 Second Smile brush went head-to-head with a Sonicare toothbrush. Researchers tested to see which toothbrush helped reduce gingival inflammation, plaque index, and number of bleed points (all measurements that are commonly used in dentistry for quantifying gum disease). The 30 Second Smile brush outperformed across the board.
An important point…
Like many studies, half of the participants used one brush and half used the other. Both groups were told to use the brush twice per day.
But (and it’s a big but in this case), the participants using the 30 Second Smile brush were instructed to only use their brush for 30 seconds for each brushing. Meanwhile, the participants using Sonicare were instructed to use their brush for 2 minutes for each brushing.
In other words, the 30 Second Smile brush outperformed a Sonicare brushing in 1/4 of the brushing time.
This really doesn’t surprise me because we know the Bass Brushing Technique is specifically looking to address gum disease. If you’re not familiar with the story of Dr Bass, check out our article and video tutorial, “how to brush your teeth to reduce gum disease” here.
If you’d like to read the whole clinical trial article, here’s the link.
2 year warranty…
I’m also really pleased that the company behind this brush solution offers a no-questions-asked 2 year warranty on the product. Unlike other electric toothbrushes where we like the brush but don’t care for the company, the company behind the 30 Second Smile brush backs up their products with a solid warranty.
Various applications
We see several potential applications for this toothbrush solution:
- Anyone with Parkinson’s disease or MS or any health challenge that compromises our ability to brush well
- For those adults who just don’t have the time on a daily basis to clean their teeth like they know is best
- For young children who lack the fine muscle control required to perform Bass brushing correctly
Does this mean I can ‘just’ use this brush?
Not so fast there–nothing can replace you taking control of your oral health.
The fact is, each of us must soberly become the MVP (most valuable person) on our path to health/wellness. No product innovation, gadget or new supplement is ever going to allow us to ‘set and forget’ when it comes to our oral (or whole body) health.
However, if you find that your life is so full right now that you’re just not able to make the time to give your mouth the regular cleaning it really deserves, this brush may help.
Yes, we still encourage each of us to take a moment to ‘hack’ our lives to create more space/time for our individual needs. But we get it. Sometimes life is just so full that it’s all we can do to stay the course and wait for calmer waters.
Discount for OraWellness community
If you want to check out the 30 Second Smile brush, the company has extended a really great offer for our community.
They have offered to give you 23% off their retail price. To get the discount, just use the coupon code orawellness (all lowercase) to get your special pricing.
You can learn more about the 30 Second Smile brush here.
(Affiliate disclosure fine print: Yes, the company behind this helpful toothbrush does give us an affiliate commission if you purchase a toothbrush from them. We asked them to just give you the extra discount, but they insisted that we get a little something for our effort to share their solution with you.)
Helpful, Related Resources:
Electric vs Manual Brushing: Which is better? (part 1) [article]
Electric vs Manual Brushing: Which is better? (part 2) [article]
BrushEco Sustainable Bamboo Bass Toothbrushes [product solution]
OraWellness Plastic Bass Toothbrushes [product solution]
FAQ: “How long should I brush my teeth?” [article]
How to brush your teeth to reduce gum disease [[article and video]]
Other Resources:
Well i expect they might soon be popular in India as well
Aloha,
I tried to use the discount coupon today and it did not apply, so did did not proceed with the purchase. Was there a time limit on the coupon?
I am a general dentist and I have been using this toothbrush for several years now and I recommend it to my patients. This toothbrush does use the principles of the Bass technique which we teach in our office. It is very simple to use and does a great job. My patients love it.
Thank you! I use your products and will continue to. I ordered a 30 second Smile brush yesterday. Thank’s so much for the discount!!
Hello, After reading your article I was curious and went to the website. It turned me off. Way to many choices, not a lot of information that would make picking a brush helpful. I’ll stick to my 2 minutes with Sonicare.
Hi there! I was wondering if you (or the person in your family who has tried this brush) now considers this to be superior to the Rotadent electric toothbrush? After I heard about Rotadent from your articles, I check it out and it looks like it would be quite thorough for getting in between teeth and even the gumline area. I am curious if this brush does as thorough and as gentle a job as the Rotadent (I am concerned with making sure I don’t aggravate gum recession).
Aloha Sharon,
Thanks for adding to the conversation here.
If you are really concerned about recession, the Rotadent is probably the wiser choice. While we really appreciate the Rotadent brush, our experience with the company behind the brush caused us to look for other solutions.
Thanks for this article. I think this toothbrush would be really helpful for my kids to brush their teeth well on their own. I’m bummed to see that the $49 AA battery powered kids toothbrush doesn’t qualify for the coupon.
Forgot to add….
I am looking at reviews on youtube and back just 6 years ago this brush was only 60.00. Why is it 150.00 now?
I cannot pay that for a toothbrush. 60-80 is pushing it, but 150.00?!
Though, from what I’ve seen so far it does get good reviews.
I would need the kids version anyway since my mouth is so small so maybe I’ll try it.
I still like being in control of my manual brush which is why I have never purchased an electric one even though my hubby has been using electric for 10+ years.
One down side I do see with this brush is what if (like the commenter above) a person has moderately to heavily crowded/crooked teeth? How will this brush work?
It would be nice to see them make a single head electric BASS toothbrush …rounded tips and all for those people who have crowded teeth or for those of us who just want something smaller/simpler in the mouth and more control.
Just something to think about : )
The previous model of this toothbrush was powered by AA batteries, so it was less powerful but way cheaper. The new one is rechargeable, I believe that’s why the price increased so much.
What is your opinion of (or have you heard of) the electric toothbrushes with the “blue” bacteria killing light in the head of the brush?
Thank you for this analysis, how about those who have crooked teeth? It takes me 10 minutes to brush my teeth because I have to reach difficult places.
Aloha Luc,
Thanks for reaching out here and adding to the conversation. I’m not sure that this style of brush would work well with misaligned teeth. Probably best to stick with a manual toothbrush!
lol you just answered my question!
thanks.
Hi Will and Susan, I was intrigued with the toothbrush after reading your article and going to Amazon and seeing the good customer ratings. But when I checked the Amazon ratings on fakespot.com the reviews (collectively) received an F grade. “Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there is high deception involved.” Thought you should know.
Thank you Richard. Good to know. Like we share in the review, we don’t recommend this brush to be the ‘go to’ brush for everyone. However, we do receive a fair amount of contact from people asking for electric brush solutions due to physical handicaps. I think this type of brush could provide a helpful hand for those in need.
How do you put the powder & liquid from Orawellness on this electric toothbrush?
Aloha Susan,
Great question! Honestly, I’m not really sure how to get Shine on this brush without dipping the whole head into the jar (which we strongly discourage because of our experience dipping brushes into Shine and the powder getting clumpy in the jar). I think the healthy mouth blend would be simple enough to just drip on the various brush heads however.
Dear Will and Susan,
I have severe gum recession on most of my teeth. I think caused by combination of not cleaning my teeth properly in the past, adult braces, over brushing and a period of my mental health breaking down and taking medication that dried my my mouth out.
As you can imaging the above is distressing to me. I look terrible. Could this new tooth brush make the recession even worse? I keep getting plaque despite being very careful to clean my teeth.
Thank you for any advice.
Aloha Debra,
Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your story with us. I’m sorry to hear that your teeth are in rough shape. I first want to make a sincere reflection that I know you don’t ‘look terrible’. Sure, your teeth may be in rough shape, but you are precious. Don’t let anyone (including yourself) tell you otherwise.
Ok, now that I’ve said what I really needed to say here :), with lots of recession, I think it wiser to use a manual toothbrush like our Bass brushes. Like we share in our 2 part series on electric vs manual brushes, electric brushes can be great AND they can cause more harm than good if used unconsciously. So, given the recession you already have, I’d tend to want to avoid such aggressive movements as electric brushes use.
I hope this helps dear. Take care.
Thank you for letting us know about the value of this particular electric toothbrush.
I just visited their site and studied it thoroughly. Not once do they mention the Bass Toothbrush, Bass Toothbrush Bristles, or the Bass Tooth-brushing Technique. This seems strange as you make quite a positive impression on all of us who have switched to the Bass Toothbrush and Technique of how invaluable the “Bass System” is. Further, you said that the 30 Second Smile sample toothbrush they sent you, and then the follow-up communication you had with them centered around how they have put the Bass Bristles and Bass Technique into an electric toothbrush. Something doesn’t add up here(?)
Take care,
Joel
Aloha Joel,
Thank you for stopping by to add your thoughts to the discussion. I’m sorry for any confusion I may have caused you. The 30 second smile brush does use the small, back and forth Bass movements. I recall seeing on their site that they did reference Dr Bass’ work but I don’t recall what page it was that I saw the comment.
Like we state in the review, if you are happy with manually brushing your teeth using the Bass method, I consider this superior to using an electric brush (of any sort). We can simply apply more care using a manual brush. I hope this helps clarify any confusion I may have caused with the writing style of the article/review.
Would this electric toothbrush be effective with misaligned teeth?
Aloha Cheryl,
Thanks for reaching out to us. Given misaligned teeth, I think it wise to stick with manual brushing techniques. I’m not convinced that this brush solution would work for misaligned teeth.
Thank you both. I will stick with my manual Bass technique!