These days it can be quite confusing if you’re looking to buy an electric toothbrush. With manual toothbrushes, there is very little to consider, but with electric models, the sheer number of options can be pretty overwhelming.
The popular Oral-B Electric Toothbrush offers a number of heads to choose from, and there’s a model for almost every type of brushing task that you might require. They are all interchangeable with other Oral-B rechargeable electric handles, apart from the Oral-B Pulsonic, so you won’t need to buy a different handle for a particular head.
Oral-B Heads vs. Sonicare Heads
They are two different type of toothbrush heads, I mean their technical structure and working principle are totally different. Most Oral-B brush heads are using oscillating-rotating cleaning technique (except for the Deep Sweep brush head) while the Philips’ brush heads are applying the sonic vibration cleaning technology.
Technical differences lead to different using experiences, for example, Sonicare has lower noise which likes bees buzzing sound, while the sounds of Oral-B more like the voice of an ordinary electric shaver
Besides, they are having different shape and appearance. Oral-B brush heads have the circular structure, while the Sonicare is very similar to the brush head of a manual toothbrush.
Let’s take a look at each of them, their features and benefits, and find out what they are for.
| Oral-B CrossAction Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ 16 degree angle bristles and complete tooth coverage ✓ CrissCross bristles help to remove 500% more plaque ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| The Crossaction head is currently Oral-B’s go-to option for all of their new electric toothbrushes. You can think of it as a jack of all trades, but that doesn’t mean it’s a master of none. It’s perfectly adequate for most people’s requirements, and unless you want something with a very specific ability it will do the job of cleaning your teeth quite nicely. The CrossAction got its name from the crisscross pattern of its bristles. There are green, white and blue clusters of them angled at 16°, and the reason for this arrangement is that it helps them to reach in between teeth and clean away 3 times as much plaque as a regular toothbrush. It has long bristles which help to remove plaque from between the teeth and along the gum line. These bristles are medium to firm, so pretty much in line with what you’d expect from a manual toothbrush. They could however, feel a little bit harsh if you were looking for something softer, so if your teeth are sensitive then it might be better to go for one of the kinder options. |
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| Oral-B Precision Clean Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ MicroPulse bristles designed to clean tooth by tooth and cover more surface ✓ Remove 100% more plaque ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| Oral-B Precision Clean brush head is said to be designed for achieving a “tooth-by-tooth” clean. It doesn’t have any of the unusual looking bristle shapes of some of the other designs, as it’s not trying to reach into gaps between teeth. The profile of the bristles does have a curve that matches the curve of each tooth though, so it will fit nicely and should remove plaque evenly and effectively. Each bristle features a rounded end, so the brushing experience is soft, making it ideal for beginners or people who just want a comfortable clean. At this point it’s worth mentioning that dentists recommend that you replace your brush once every 3-4 months, and also that all Oral-B brush head refills have indicator bristles that fade, which works well as a reminder. The Oral-B website states that this is their most popular replacement brush. |
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| Oral-B FlossAction Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ Advanced MicroPulse bristles designed to deep reach and superior interdental clean ✓ Remove 100% more plaque ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| The Oral-B FlossAction brush Head aims to give the same kind of cleaning action as flossing, to achieve healthy teeth and gums. It has advanced MicroPulse bristles which reach deep between teeth for better plaque removal than a manual toothbrush. It doesn’t claim to replace flossing but it certainly helps to get into the same sort of places. The spaces between your teeth are known as interdental gaps and this brush has 4 tapered yellow rubber wedges which are supposed to get in there. I didn’t notice any difference when using this head, though I did notice that it seemed to work a lot better along the gum line, so maybe they should call it “GumAction”? The yellow wedges feel a little bit odd but you soon get used to them. |
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| Oral-B 3D White Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ Specially designed polishing cup to help remove surface stains ✓ Whiten teeth in 2 weeks ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| Oral-B 3D White brush head has the specially designed polishing cup and sweeping bristles that help to remove surface stains reveal whiter smile in 2 weeks. This approach is the key to effective toothbrush based whitening, as removing stains reveals the whiter surface underneath. The cup shape was inspired by professional dental tools and the 3D White works with Oral-B’s oscillating and rotating action. |
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| Oral-B Sensitive Clean Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ More softer bristles designed for special care of sensitive gums and teeth ✓ Also can be used for post-surgery, periodontal, and new dental implants ✓ Rotate technology for maximum cleaning ✓ Remove 2 times more plaque ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| If you are not a big fan of brushing your teeth with sandpaper then the Sensitive Clean might be just the brush you. It has an outer and inner ring of clustered bristles, colored dark blue and light blue, but although they look different they feel pretty much the same. They are noticeably soft, and definitely feel better than most toothbrushes do when you have sensitive teeth or inflamed gums. Brushing along the gum line, you should have a much more pleasant experience. | |
| Oral-B Ortho Care Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ Dentist-inspired tool for dental braces ✓ Effective cleaning of interdental spaces, gently removes plaque from teeth with braces. ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| Oral-B Ortho Care brush heads are, as the name suggests designed for people with braces. They’re designed to clean around these tricky appliances and to get into hard to reach areas, like beneath and around orthodontic wires and brackets. It has Oral-B's smaller round shape like the Sensitive Gum Care head, but next to other heads has fewer tufts of bristles they're spread out further and are smaller in diameter. With this design, the bristles splay out easily, so they reach in between and around orthodontic wires. Comparing with other replacement brush heads, the Ortho Care brush is quite costly, but may be worth it if you find that braces impede your brushing. |
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| Oral-B Deep Sweep Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ Dynamic angled power tip and 3 bristle zones help to access hard-to-reach areas ✓ TriZone and Non-sweeping brush head pulsate on the entire surface of the teeth, to prevent plaque build-up ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| The Oral-B Deep Sweep brush head is designed to give a deep clean. It has a moving tip so that it can get to hard to reach back teeth, short bristles which remain stationary for surface cleaning and finally, longer bristles that sweep the deep cleaning between your teeth. It’s different from all the other Oral-B brush heads because it has a shape that’s much closer to that of a regular manual toothbrush. It’s relatively large, probably half as big again as Oral-B’s rotary motion toothbrushes, so it covers a lot of real estate. When you use it, you’ll notice that the dark blue bristles remain stationary and the white and lighter blue bristles move back-and-forth. So, if you switch to an electric toothbrush and find that you don’t like the rotary action, this head saves you the expense of having to invest in a different brand. A bigger brush head won’t be for everyone but I personally enjoyed it. It removes twice the plaque as a regular toothbrush |
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| Oral-B Dual Clean Replacement Electric Toothbrush Heads | |
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| Color options | White |
| Sizes offer | Standard |
| Installation | Click-on |
| Key features | ✓ 2 moving brush heads for thorough cleaning and gentle gum massaging ✓ Rotate technology for maximum cleaning ✓ Remove 2 times more plaque ✓ Indicator bristles that fade halfway to remind you replace the brush head |
| Compatible brush handles | • Compatible with all of Oral-B rechargeable electric toothbrush handles |
| The Oral-B Dual Clean brush Head is said to provide twice the cleaning benefit of a manual toothbrush. That’s easy to believe because it has 2 sections that move independently. It has a typical Oral-B rotary design section, and below that another section that looks a little bit like half of a manual toothbrush head. The dual clean does a decent job but it should only be purchased by people who have enough space in their mouths to make full use of it. You could say that it’s a bit of a mouthful! It will be difficult for people with small amounts to reach their molars and give them an adequate clean. Perhaps the best way to test this would be to go to a store, hold up the dual clean next to a cheap manual toothbrush of similar size, and buy the manual one to test it. If it seems okay then you’re good to go. If not, best try something smaller. |
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