My little brother twisted the tall tower like thing of the toothbrush
and it stopped working. I'm hoping someone to reply to my problem with
a solution.
Make sure he does not take to eating spinach
Buy a new one.
Getting these things apart undamaged is an art. Getting them back
together in working condition is something else.
Sylvia.
But be prepared for some sticker shock.
The one I had (that just went South couple days ago) cost less
than 15 USD a couple of years ago.
The cheapest Oral-B I could find retail around here was close to
eighty dollars.
Finally wound up paying $100 for a two-pack of "Professional
1000" models at Sam's Club - figuring that the extra twenty was
well spent against the day when one failed again.
I'm thinking all this is some kind of marketing ploy by Oral-B,
since Colgate offers electric toothbrushes at under $10 - albeit
not with the reciprocating action of the Oral-B.
--
PeteCresswell
The expensive Oral-B is rechargeable, the Colgate (et alia) are not. Hence
the price difference.
What's despicable is that Oral-B and Philips (Sonicare) provide no way of
exchanging the batteries. Once they fail, the unit becomes yet more
electro-mechanical trash.
Before anyone responds... Yes, I'm aware how difficult it would be to make
the units water-tight.
They are almost impossible to use rechargable batteries. My teenage son's
one has had the last 6 or so sets of batteries replaced because they got wet
and damaged instead of "running out of juice".
I'm sure if he were careful, they would be kept dry and last longer, but he's
a teenager, I'm just glad he brushes his teeth. :-)
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.
That's interesting. Why do you think rechargeables are so "susceptible"?
I have both Oral and Philips. Both are at least 10 years old and there is
no noticeable decrease in runtime. I'd say i got my money's worth so far.
--
Live Fast Die Young, Leave A Pretty Corpse
> That's interesting. Why do you think rechargeables are so "susceptible"?
Sorry, I meant that any batteries were destroyed in about a week beyond
use, long before they wore out, so replacing them with rechargables would
not be worth it because they would be ruined long before they would be ready
for recharging.
Come to think of it, if I made up a pack that was sealed on the bottom,
it should work. It would keep the bottoms dry so they would not corrode
from the water.
Thanks,
Jeff
True, but it's not electric.
I've used the Sonicare for over a decade, and would never go back to a
manual toothbrush. It simply does a much better job.
Consumer Reports claims that a manual brush is /the/ best way to clean your
teeth and gums. If so, I don't know how to properly use one.
You've said this before. My Sonicares have lasted from two to four years.
And that's buying them in pairs at Costco.
You must be recharging them in a way I am not. How often do you drop them
back on the charger?
I never used an electric until about 10 years ago when my dentist
recommended them.
Up 'till then, I'd managed to scrub much of the enamel off of my
teeth by brushing too hard.
Since, there seems to have been no additional loss of enamel.
Also the ladies who do the cleaning at check-up time have
commented on how clean my teeth look.
I suspect that, in the end, it comes down to technique... but I
don't have it and the electric compensates.
--
PeteCresswell
In the instructions for my Oral-B's, there is an admonition to
totally drain the battery and then recharge: every six months for
the "1000"s that I just bought and monthly for the "Vitality"
that recently died.
--
PeteCresswell
>Up 'till then, I'd managed to scrub much of the enamel off of my
>teeth by brushing too hard.
That's not the brush. It's the abrasive tooth paste. I used to use
tooth paste to "grind" radio crystals. If it will grind glass, it
will do the same to your teeth. Use baking soda, or like I do just
water. Incidentally, I haven't used tooth paste for the last 40+
years and still have all of my teeth except for one root canal.
Literally all the dental problems I've had were from undermined
fillings.
For a possible fix, there's also nano-particle enamel restorer.
<http://kandaka.com/2006/12/07/nanoparticle-toothpaste-restores-enamel/>
No clue if it works. It's been around for about 6 years so there
should be some reports available.
The one redeeming value of a motorized toothbrush is that it's great
for "stimulating" the gums. While tooth decay is a bummer, having a
perfectly good tooth fall out because the gum rotted out under it, is
even worse. Most people are too lazy to run the tooth brush over
their gums, but a motorized brush makes it easy and quick. If your
gums bleed when you brush, you're doing it wrong.
I bought some of the Oral-B throw away motorized toothbrushes to try
them out. Three for $15 at Costco. I think they're discontinued and
have been replaced by the ones that have a replacable battery. I'm
waiting for the battery to run down so I can tear it apart and see
what's inside. Maybe in a month or three.
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
>> You must be recharging them in a way I am not. How often
>> do you drop them back on the charger?
> In the instructions for my Oral-B's, there is an admonition to
> totally drain the battery and then recharge: every six months for
> the "1000"s that I just bought and monthly for the "Vitality"
> that recently died.
That assumes the user recharges after every use, presumably creating a
"memory".
I tend to run my Oral-Bs down before recharging them. It's the Sonicares
that have had a seemingly too-short life.
I keep my Sonic on the charge all the time when not in use. Use it for 2
minutes twice a day. I'm pretty sure i bought it when they first came out
was that 2000 or so?
That seems about right. Maybe a year or two earlier.
Perhaps. Have you checked the shelf life of nicads?
Sylvia.
While on gums, I was unaware of Teepee interdental brushes until a few years
ago, for those with teeth too close together for flossing.
(also useful for pushing through 1mm holes in relay casings to clean the
contacts)
Odd you would not be getting the same battery life. Mine has no
indication the charge capacity has been reduced.
Normally I put it right back in the charger after I use it but I have
left it out of the charger for up to a week before I had to recharge.
The charger is in another room so sometimes that is more convenient.
I don't know how all the other electric tooth brushes work, but the
Sonicare uses a magnetic signal generated by the handle/battery pack
to make the brush oscillate very fast. I don't know the actual speed
but I would estimate 50 - 100 cycles per second. You would be
brushing
for an hour to get the same number of strokes by hand and I can't
believe Consumer Reports still preferred a manual brush. The Sonicare
does an amazing job of cleaning my teeth and I knew the first time I
used it that I should have started using it sooner. My teeth felt
totally smooth like after the dentist cleans them.
I have never submersed the battery pack in water because it doesn't
look waterproof, but it is at least water resistant because I clean
the cavity where the magnets go thoroughly a few times a year using
water and have never had any problems doing so.
Fascinating!
Well, I finally got off my butt and performed the due diligence
that I should have performed before buying.
Turns out there is something to the price diff.
The cheaper one that failed had a significant feature set diff.
Battery life, number of strokes per minute, pressure warning
light, and maybe more.
The bottom line I came away with is that I should have sprung for
one of the even more expensive ones that had the sonic cleaning
feature - which users report leaves the teeth feeling like they
do right after a professional cleaning.
--
PeteCresswell
What comprises "sonic" cleaning is a matter of opinion. However, the current
Oral-Bs, and all the Sonicares, do/did a sufficiently good job of cleaning
that your teeth are "squeaky" clean -- runbbing a clean, dry fingertip over
them produces sound.