Electric toothbrushes: what’s on the market?

Electric toothbrushes are established now as an alternative to manual toothbrushing. The first patent for a modern design of manual toothbrush was by H Wadsworth in 1857 (US Patent No. 18 653), but mass production in the US only started in 1885. The first successful electric toothbrush, called the Broxodent, was conceived in Switzerland in 1954 by Dr Philippe-Guy Woog.

The movement of early powered brushes simulated hand-motion, with a back-and-forth or side-to-side movement, offering little cleaning advantage over manual toothbrushes for patients with adequate manual dexterity. As technology has moved on, more complicated mechanical movements have been introduced incorporating different movements, speed settings or electric charges into the head of the brush.