Customer Reviews

Sonicare QP3 Sonic Toothbrush

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the best toothbrush I have ever used! I had tons of dental work done 3 years ago, despite my brushing 3x's a day and flossing regularly. I got the brush 18 months ago and have had no dental problems at all. When I went in for a cleaning my dentist asked me why I was there, he said I had no plaque at all. He could not believe that I had not had a cleaning in the past year. The brush just quit working recently and sonicare sent me a new one free of charge. They said peroxide toothpaste is not good for the handle. The best customer service ever!!

Sonicare makes the most professional electric toothbrush on the market, as far as I can tell - at least that is marketed and sold to normal consumers. The brushhead moves so fast (I think around 30,000 rpm) that it just feels completely different from most other electric toothbrushes that run at a fraction of that speed. Because of the super-fast revolution, it's supposed to create sonic waves (thus the name) that breaks plaque up. You also do not have to brush as hard as other electric toothbrushes but still get an even better feeling of having really cleaned your teeth after a brush. This particular model of their brush is really helpful because it beeps every 30 seconds to tell you to move to another quadrant of your mouth, so that you give equal and adequate brushing time to all your teeth.

I did have one problem with this brush. After about a year it stopped working and despite cleaning, charging, replacing the brush head, etc., it simply would not work. Well, I contacted Sonicare, and they sent me over a replacement since there is a two-year warrenty on the brush! They did mention that they had recently discovered that certain toothpastes - with peroxide and/or whitening could degrade the plastic and cause water to get to the battery inside and ruin it. I don't have such toothpaste right now, but I'm sure it's possible I had some over the last year or so I had the brush before it stopped working, so just be careful and use only a plain paste or gell with the brush, and keep your warrenty and manual just in case!

Electric brushes have been around for decades, but never has there been a product that compares to the 'sonic' toothbrush made by the Optiva Corp. Other electric brushes mimic toothbrushing, with their inherent ability to cause abrasion of fragile gum tissue and root surfaces exposed by abrasion and resulting "recession" of gum tissue. Living in the Northwest, we have been fortunate to have had access to the Sonicare brush for the six or seven years it has been in existence, and in our dental practice we have seen the impressive improvement our patients have made in their oral hygiene scores as a result of using it. The greatest problem we see is when people try to brush with the instrument instead of following directions and allowing the brush to do its work by gently placing it at the gumline, tipped with the bristles toward the gums, and very slowly moving it along. It works best to start in the back of the mouth, and methodically work around in an organized pattern.

The Optiva company has been one of the best we have seen in standing behind its product; I don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone!

The device is one of the best I've ever used. It has one flaw though. You must not use toothpaste containing peroxide or baking soda. The chemicals react and weaken the plastic of the handle unit, and it can break easily under these (rather strange) circumstances.

Apparently the company is working on reformulating their plastics. As I generally use the "forbidden" kinds of toothpaste it's a slight pain.

I still recommend it, and if you use a gel formula without the other ingedients, it's great.

Whether or not the high-speed "sonic waves" clean as they're purported to do, there's enough other features in this unit to make it worthwhile. Foremost, the quad-pacer, a beep that sounds four times, every 30 seconds, will guide you to brushing each quarter of your teeth long enough for the flouride in your toothpaste to activiate. You can even turn the brush off mid-period (e.g., to spit) and it will resume where you left off.

The balance of the unit and the reach of the brush will encourage you to fully brush hard to reach areas (including teeth in the very back, and teeth in the front that are often shielded by your lips). The buzzing on your gums provides excellent feedback so that you know exactly where you're brushing. Even better, you'll quickly find the highly-sensitive areas where you've been slacking.

The unit itself is very attractive, and the base connects to the brush with some sort of contact-less charging system. That means no metal contacts on the brush unit that would eventually corrode. This model (the QP-3) doesn't have the recharge indicator that's on the top-of-the-line model, but it's little inconvenience, since most people leave the brush in the recharger when it's not in use.

You could probably get the same results with a manual toothbrush, if you were conscientious enough to brush the full two minutes each time, and used some sort of disclosing tablets to find the spots you're missing. The advantage of the Sonicare is that it will encourage you to brush long enough, and it will help you be thorough.

We have 3 of these, and have been pleased since the beginning (about 3 years ago). Your mouth will feel wonderful after each use (though it takes a bit of getting used to, and beginners are warned to use the included damping ring to decrease the intensity for a while). We have had 2 occasions to return one to the factory, but they were replaced under warranty with little fuss (both dead batteries). There have been subtle changes as newer models have come out. I like this latest itineration best, as its tiny green LED on the on/off switch makes an adequate navigational beacon through a dark bathroom. One word of caution: my family will not travel without these things, so while I preach 'pack light', they tote their Sonics everywhere we go. Fortunately, one charge lasts at least a week, so the charging base is only needed on extended trips.

My 6-year-old Sonicare finally gave up the ghost, so now I'm getting a new one. I consider this outstanding service for such a device; running twice a day for that many years.
During this time, I've had no cavities & minor gum problems. I'm very happy, since most people over 60 have numerous expensive dental visits.

I love the Sonicare toothbrush (this is our second), but this QP-3 is not advertised correctly. It says it comes with two brushheads, and shows a standard size head in the ad. However, one of the heads is extremely small, sub compact, which we can't use comfortably.

You can have the best toothcare product on the market today. That makes it a bargain.
You will also have cleaner-feeling teeth (yes, you can tell the difference!) and you will
brush your teeth longer... The massaging action is actually quite pleasant...My only
problem is having to switch the heads because my wife and I share the same unit...It's
probably better to get two units, because the power unit can get kind of gross with
splattered toothpaste... As an added bonus, you need to use far less toothpaste than
normal, because the Sonicare brush doesn't need gobs of it to work it's magic.

Then this is the product for you!! I'm not big on standing in front of the mirror brushing my teeth for two minutes, but this toothbrush makes me feel as if 2 min is too short! While brushing, there are 3 timed "beeps" which allows you to move onto another area so each receives equal brushing time. This brush is not intended to ignore your floss, but it makes brushing your teeth easier and it uses less toothpaste! It doesn't foam up the way conventional brushing does, so you can use less. After using this product for several months, my teeth and gums feel better. Maybe I'm just brushing longer, who knows...but whatever it takes, this is doing the job!