We saw these home use ultrasonic dental cleaners on Amazon and decided to give them a try.
Ultrasonic scaling is what most dental practices have used for decades to remove plaque from teeth. Home ultrasonic scalers have been on the market for a few years and have surged in popularity. These small hand held devices are battery operated, recharge by USB and do a surprisingly good job of cleaning away hard plaque on teeth.
We decided to test one of these with our resident human lab rat to see how easy they were to use and what kind of results could be achieved. We also looked at the potential risks or benefits with using these. From dental professionals it was largely mixed, some supported their use, others did not. The ones that did not couldn’t cite a specific reason not to use these vs. paying them to do the same thing, other than you could potentially damage a tooth, more on that later. It is worth noting that this is a disrupter product that dental clinics may see as costing them patients.
Our tester charged the device, and gave it a try on the softest setting with the narrow tip. This worked well between teeth to knock out plaque. The harder settings felt like a jackhammer. It was also noted that you should use the edge of the cleaning tip, not the end of it. The end pointed directly at the tooth was too much vibration on a small area of the tooth and could potentially damage a tooth. Using the wider tip for larger surfaces worked great on areas where plaque tended to build up by going back and forth to remove those residues. They were surprised how easy and effective this was. This isn’t something you would want to or need to do all the time but a couple of times a year would be effective to keep plaque buildup at bay.
This also had the benefit of being able to do a small area as you have time. If sitting in the dentist’s chair for an extended period of time with your mouth open feels problematic, being able to use this in short sessions on your own terms is a game changer. This cleaner would also be a good option for people who lack access to a dentist for various reasons to at least keep buildup at bay.
The product was a 5 out of 5. At the time of purchase, it was about $22. These range from around $20 to $40 depending on what unit you buy but they appear to all be the same design. This was the one we tested.
Pros:
Convenience, use it when and for how long you want
Cost, ours was around $22, a cleaning at the dentist is over $100 for one cleaning without any xrays
Effective, the device performed well and removed plaque as claimed
Cons:
The harder modes were harsh, soft mode was tolerable
Not a complete replacement for dental visits that also look for cavities
