Ökotest tested 15 electric toothbrushes.
Only a third scores well, one product fails with the overall rating “unsatisfactory”.
Frankfurt am Main - The consumer
magazine Ökotest
examined 15 rotary and sonic toothbrushes, which were priced between ten and 200 euros.
These included well-known brands such as Oral-B and Philips.
The test showed once again that expensive does not have to mean good.
The Stiftung Warentest recently came to a similar conclusion.
Ökotest winner: These are the results of the toothbrush test
The test winner among the 15 products was not the most expensive product, but rather an entry-level model.
Ökotest
awarded
the rating “very good”
three times
. The first three places went to the models Happy Brush rotating toothbrush R2 (39.95 euros), Philips Sonicare Protective Clean 4300 sonic toothbrush (59.95 euros) and the Vitis Sonic S10 sonic toothbrush from Dentaid (36.90 euros). Around a third of the 15 electric toothbrushes tested received an overall rating of “good” or “very good”. Six products were “satisfactory” and two were “sufficient”.
Only one toothbrush
failed
the
Ökotest
: The comparatively inexpensive Fairywill D7 sonic toothbrush (24.99 euros) could not convince the testers and was rated “unsatisfactory”.
The reason: The toothbrush violates the Product Safety Act.
A German address is given on the product itself, but it is actually manufactured by a Chinese company.
The problem for customers: if they have complaints, they don't have a direct contact person in such a case.
In addition, the circuit board of the toothbrush contains bromine, which is considered very harmful to the environment.
In line with the toothbrush test,
Ökotest
had already examined 400 toothpastes in the past, as the video shows:
Ökotest: The testers checked these criteria
All 15 models tested have small brush heads suitable for cleaning. This was determined by the expert Professor Martin Jung from the dental department of the Giessen University Hospital, who
carried out
the examination for
Ökotest
. In contrast, the bristle ends were not sufficiently rounded on seven models. The testers also examined criteria such as robustness and dropped the toothbrushes onto the floor from a height of one meter. Only one model broke, 14 survived unscathed.
Ökotest also
checked the general shelf life
.
Following the recommendation of dentists to brush the teeth at least twice a day for two minutes each, the testers simulated using the toothbrushes over a period of three years.
This corresponded to a total of 73 hours per model.
All 15 toothbrushes passed this endurance test.
Ökotest also
took a close look at the batteries.
There were prints for only 100 minutes of battery life, some models lasted up to 300 minutes.
The testers recommend batteries with high-quality lithium-ion technology, but some toothbrushes still use nickel-metal hydride, with a significantly shorter lifespan.
