Review (5/5): Perfect Checkups - Whiter Teeth - Happy Wife
I was a dental nightmare. For years I got failing grades from my hygienist and lived with greyish teeth, bleeding gums, and bad breath that made my wife turn away in the morning. One day about a year ago I decided it was time to make a change in my life.
I switched to the 8850 DLX machine from a low-end $20 power brush and started using various Rembrandt whitening toothpastes and finishing with Dr Ken's mouthwash. I also began using Johnson and Johnson Stim-U-Dent Plaque Removers before the mouthwash.
For several weeks, my gums bled moderately and hurt after cleaning. I persisted with my new routine, the bleeding stopped, my breath was much improved and my latest annual checkup got me a perfect score. All this with a single brushing every morning followed by a rinse with a good plaque fighting mouthwash.
The 8850 did a lot to help me get where I am today. The 30 second quadrant time signal kept me honest, so I put in a full two minute brushing. The speed control let me use a slower more comfortable speed for a couple of months until my gums adjusted to the more serious routine - now I use maximum speed all the time. The round Oral B brush heads (I sugguest you avoid the oval style) let me get into the tight spaces way back in my mouth and clean every inch of my gumline.
The negatives are pretty trivial. The gadgets that ship with the deluxe kit are pretty much a joke in my opinion. After a few days I threw them away. The flashing blue charger light seems silly, but I've learned to ignore it.
The positives boil down to just one. This is a powerful aid to healthy gums if used daily. It took some getting used to, but it's now changed my life - my wife no longer turns away in the morning and I can face my mirror and my dentist with a smile.